Figure1. Assessing the condition of a historic apple tree that is part of the maintained 

landscape at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, 2010. (NPS Olmsted Center)

Prepared by John Auwaerter, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 

Partner, National Park Service Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation Introduction

For its second century, the National Park Service is renewing its call 

to achieve a standard of excellence in cultural resource stewardship 

that serves as a model throughout the world.

1

 The preservation 

planning methods contained in Cultural Landscape Reports, Cultural 

Landscapes Inventories, and Preservation Maintenance Plans continue 

to define best practices for preserving and enhancing the nation’s 

landscape legacy. Successful implementation of these plans, including 

long-term sustainability, requires close coordination between planners 

and maintenance staff to address the many preservation challenges 

facing historic landscapes, from funding and staffing to natural dynamics 

of growth and decline (fig. 1). Until recently, however, there was no 

systematic means within the park service for translating preservation 

plans into the actual work of facilities management. Differing objectives 

Cultural Landscapes & NPS Facility Management

17
Figure 2. The cultural landscape of Fort Mason at Golden Gate 

National Recreation Area showing differing organization: bold 

black lines by the Cultural Landscapes Program, and colored 

areas by Facility Management. (NPS Olmsted Center)

2 LANDSCAPE LINES

and data structures between cultural landscape 

preservation and facility management has long 

made it difficult to bridge the two programs. 

Today, the Facility Management Software System 

(FMSS), developed to improve the effectiveness of 

facility operations, has the capability of serving as 

a powerful tool for landscape preservation. With 

proper data input, FMSS allows facility managers 

access to information about the historic significance 

and treatment of cultural landscapes, and to use 

that information for determining operational 

and funding priorities. The integration of cultural 

landscape data into FMSS is enhancing stewardship 

of the vast array of historically significant landscapes 

in the national park system, from gardens, farms, 

and country estates, to parkways, trails, and 

campgrounds. 

While park facility managers have the primary 

responsibility for managing FMSS, Park Cultural 

Landscapes Program staff can play an important 

role in helping parks successfully integrate cultural 

landscape data into the system. Landscape Lines 

17: Cultural Landscapes and Facility Management, has 

been developed to advance this role by fostering 

understanding of the relationship between facility 

management and cultural landscapes preservation. 

This brief provides cultural landscape professionals 

with an introduction to facility management 

concepts and terms (section 1); addresses how 

existing cultural landscapes data from Cultural 

Landscapes Reports (CLR), Cultural Landscapes 

Inventories (CLI), and Preservation Maintenance 

Plans (PMP) can be integrated into FMSS (section 

2); and offers guidance on adapting CLRs to 

better address the data needs of FMSS (section 

3). Preliminary recommendations are also provided 

for CLIs and PMPs (sections 4 and 5). Improved 

alignment between facility management and 

cultural landscapes preservation will enable parks 

to fund and implement the critically important 

facility work necessary to preserve and enhance 

their landscape heritage. 

1. Overview of Facility Management in the

National Park Service

Facility Management and the Park Cultural 

Landscapes Program share the same National Park 

Service mission to conserve resources unimpaired 

for future generations. Yet the two programs have 

distinct ways of achieving stewardship. For example, 

Facility Management uses different terms to identify 

resources and activities, and the two programs 

organize landscapes differently to achieve their 

respective goals (fig. 2). While the Park Cultural 

Landscapes Program addresses all aspects that 

comprise a cultural landscape, the focus of Facility 

Management is on those that require ongoing 

maintenance. 

A facility is property the NPS maintains to preserve 

value and function over set life cycles. A facility in 

turn is composed of assets such as buildings and 

structures, utility systems, signage, and landscapes 

(fig. 3). Facility Management encompasses work 

needed to operate, maintain, rehabilitate, and 

enhance park facilities. Certain capital improvements, 

such as construction of a new building or parking lot, 
Figure 3. Tree care underway at Fort Yellowstone National 

Historic Landmark District, Yellowstone National Park, 2008. 

Facilities Management is responsible for upkeep of the historic 

architecture and cultural landscape assets. (NPS Olmsted 

Center) 

Figure 4. Repair of stone steps on a historic but heavily 

deteriorated trail at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, 

2009. This illustrates facility work designed to preserve historic 

assets. (NPS Olmsted Center) 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 3

may also be included. The NPS relies on standards 

of the facilities management industry to assess 

condition, determine maintenance requirements, 

and estimate costs. These standards, however, 

generally do not include historic preservation 

as a knowledge base. Therefore, the NPS has 

adapted the FMSS system to incorporate 

additional cultural resource data to meet 

federal preservation laws and the mission of 

the National Park Service. 2 A CLR and CLI serve 

as sources for such data on cultural landscapes, 

along with the List of Classified Structures (LCS), 

Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS), and 

other databases. When facilities are historic, the 

management goal is preservation - or in facilities 

language, extension of life cycles in perpetuity. For 

example, facilities industry standards typically call for 

replacement of an asset that is beyond its expected 

life and where repair costs exceed replacement 

costs. A historic asset, however, is repaired to 

preserve it through continuous life cycles (fig. 4).

Over the past several decades, the formal 

connection between the Park Cultural Landscapes 

Program and Facility Management has been the 

Preservation Maintenance Plan, which guides 

cyclical and long-term maintenance work needed 

to retain contributing features and sustain 

the historic character of a cultural landscape. 

Preservation Maintenance Plans, along with 

similar reports including Landscape Stabilization 

Plans and resource-specific management 

plans such as Historic Orchard Management 

Plans, are used to implement and sustain the 

treatment recommendations in a CLR or the 

stabilization measures in a CLI. With just under 

forty Preservation Maintenance Plans and related 

reports completed to date, however, few parks 

have such guidance for their cultural landscapes.

Since its widespread application began over the 

past decade, FMSS has provided parks with the 

capability of integrating cultural landscape data 

into facility operations at a level not previously 

possible through printed reports. The origins 

of FMSS extend back to 1986, when the NPS 

Maintenance Management System was adopted to 

improve the accountability of facility management 

in the national park system. This has evolved into 

today’s Asset Management Process, which serves 

as the foundation of park Facility Management. 

Using the NPS mission of stewardship at its 
Asset Inventory

Work Identification

& Planning

Work Performance

Evaluation

Location data

Asset data

Work Orders

Actuals

Reporting

CL Data Input

HISTORIC ASSET STEWARDSHIP

Figure 5. The four stages of the Asset Management Process 

showing input of cultural landscape data that is necessary to 

achieve the goal of historic asset stewardship. (SUNY ESF, 

based on Eppley, FMSS Student Manual, 2011)

Site

Location

Asset

FMSS

Hampton National

Historic Site

Terraces

Biltmore

Ash

EXAMPLE

NPS Classification:

SURFACE 

Asset Type: 3100 

Maintained Landscape 

Landscape Type:

Ornamental Landscape 

27424

1063648

Figure 6. Example of an FMSS asset hierarchy for a 3100 

Maintained Landscape Location at Hampton National Historic 

Site. The inventory numbers for the Terraces Location and 

Biltmore Ash Asset are assigned through FMSS. (SUNY ESF) 

4 LANDSCAPE LINES

core, the process involves four basic steps: Asset 

Inventory, Work Identification and Planning, Work 

Performance, and Evaluation (fig. 5). FMSS is the 

tool, built on IBM Maximo® as a standard software 

platform, that the NPS uses to implement the Asset 

Management Process (Appendix 2: FMSS sample 

screens). All NPS units are responsible for using 

FMSS to manage facilities data, information, work 

management, and reporting.3 However, beyond 

baseline requirements, the organization of data 

and level of detail at which FMSS is implemented 

varies by park.

To achieve the agency’s mission of stewardship 

for historic assets, the Asset Management Process 

accommodates cultural landscape data in the 

first two of four phases: Asset Inventory and Work 

Identification & Planning. FMSS allows park staff to 

plan and track preservation maintenance needs 

by including cultural landscape data in the asset 

inventory; by incorporating condition assessments 

that consider preservation goals and objectives; 

and by developing work orders that can address 

stabilization, maintenance, protection, repair, and 

reestablishment of historic landscape features. 

FMSS includes a work order application that can 

detail preservation techniques, schedules, materials, 

replacement strategies, labor, and cost estimating to 

help parks plan for and obtain funding. The program 

is integrated with the NPS Project Management 

Information System (PMIS) via an interface called 

the Project Scoping Tool (PST), part of the Project 

Bridge.

Asset Inventory

Cultural landscapes are inventoried according to 

the hierarchy of Landscape-Characteristic-Feature, 

while FMSS uses Site-Location-Asset. There is 

no one-to-one correlation between the two 

hierarchies.

Site in FMSS is a management area comprised of 

one or more Location records, often of different 

Asset Types.4 Small parks may include their entire 

property as one Site record, while larger parks 

may use multiple Site records to differentiate areas.

A Location record is comprised of maintained 

property, also known as a “facility,” that the NPS 

wishes to track as a distinct entity. Locations are 

defined by Asset Types, which are categorized by 

name and numerical code, such as 1100 Roads, 

2100 Trails, 3100 Maintained Landscapes, 4100 

Buildings, 5400 Electrical Systems, and 7100 

Monuments (list of Asset Types in Appendix 3).
Figure 7. The Terraces at Hampton National Historic Site, an 

example of a 3100 Maintained Landscapes Location record, 

photographed 2010. Component Asset records of this Location 

include the turf, specimen trees, and marble urns. The mansion 

is a separate 4100 Buildings Location record. (SUNY ESF) 

Figure 8. A CLR existing conditions plan of the Mansion 

Grounds cultural landscape at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller 

National Historical Park showing its division into six FMSS 

3100 Maintained Landscape Location records. (SUNY ESF 

and NPS Olmsted Center.) 

Hillside Gardens

Pool

Area

Terrace 

Gardens-Belvedere

Hill

Mansion Terrace

Mount Tom 

Forest

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 5

The Asset Type most closely aligned with cultural 

landscapes is 3100 Maintained Landscapes. At 

Hampton National Historic Site, the “Terraces” is 

a 3100 Maintained Landscapes Location record 

that encompasses the estate’s formal landscape, 

and the Mansion at its core is a separate 4100 

Building Location record (figs. 6, 7). As evident in 

this example, a cultural landscape may have assets 

that are categorized under several different Asset 

Types in the same geographic area. In addition, 

there is no one-to-one correlation between the 

boundaries of a 3100 Maintained Landscapes 

Location record and the boundaries of a cultural 

landscape. For example, the single cultural 

landscape documented in the CLR for the Mansion 

Grounds at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National 

Historical Park contains six 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes Location records (fig. 8). 

Asset Types are subdivided into set categories 

known as Facility Type. Under 4100 Buildings, for 

example, “Warehouse” is a Facility Type. For 3100 

Maintained Landscapes, there is just one Facility 

Type (Maintained Landscape), but each record can 

also be categorized as one of twenty-two different 

attributes known as Landscape Type. Examples 

include Agricultural Landscape, Ornamental 

Landscape, Burial Landscape, Picnic Area, and Trail 

Corridor. The Hampton “Terraces,” for example, 

are the Landscape Type “Ornamental Landscape.” 

There is no direct correlation between FMSS 

Landscape Types and landscape characteristics 

(e.g., Spatial Organization, Circulation, Vegetation), 

which are the broad components and processes 

of a cultural landscape. 

Location records are composed of Asset records, 

which roughly parallel cultural landscape “features.” 

Asset records in the Hampton “Terraces” Location 

record include the Biltmore Ash along with the 

Terrace Lawn, Terrace Specimen Trees, and Small 

Marble Miscellany (marble urns visible in fig. 7). 

Assets may be organized according to a parentchild hierarchy within each Location record. This 

tool is sometimes used to track a particular asset 

at a higher level, such as a high-maintenance flower 

garden that needs to remain associated with the 

surrounding landscape, rather than being defined 

as its own separate Location record. 

Each Asset record, regardless of Asset Type, is 

classified according to the NPS Asset Classification 
Figure 9. Example of conversion of six CLR Circulation features 

within the Hill at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller into FMSS 3100 

Maintained Landscape Asset records. The text in italics 

indicates FMSS record numbers and NPS Asset Classification 

categories for each Asset. The Wood Drive documented in 

the CLR is a road and was captured under the 1100 Road 

Location record. The park decided not to capture these trails 

and paths as 2100 Trails. (SUNY ESF) 

Estate Site Record

Location Record

Asset Type: 3100 Maintained

Landscapes

Assets

CLR Circulation Features FMSS Asset Records 

1. Path to Thompson Place

2. Lily Pond path

3. Upper hillside path

4. Arboretum path

5. Wood Drive stone stairway

6. Woodland Garden path circuit

1. Hill trails & paths 188298

188298 (SURFACE/TRAFSURF)

3. Wood Drive stone stairway

188317 (STRCTURE/ACCESS/STAIRS)

2. Upper hillside path railings

188390 (BARRIER/RAILING) 

4. Wood Drive stone stairway railings

188397 (BARRIER/RAILING) 

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller

National Historical Park

43080

Hill

226302

6 LANDSCAPE LINES

Hierarchy. These are categories based on function 

and link to specifications. Parent asset classifications 

often found in cultural landscapes include 

Archeological, Barriers & Fencing, Electrical, Exhibit, 

Furnishing, Signage & Marking, Structure, Surface, 

and Water Control (see Appendix 4). These in turn 

are broken down into Sub-Parent Classifications, 

such as Railing under Barrier & Fencing. In the 

Hampton “Terraces,” for example, the lawn is 

classified as Surface/Turfgrass-Pasture Crop. 

An FMSS Asset record may correspond to a 

single cultural landscape feature, or it may group 

or split features depending on other facility needs, 

such as funding and operations. Within the Hill, 

a CLR landscape character area at Marsh-BillingsRockefeller, six Circulation features were grouped 

into four Asset records within the FMSS Hill 

Location record (fig. 9). The CLR Circulation 

features were grouped using a combination of 

geographic and asset classification factors. The Hill 

character area also includes many other Location 

records, including 1100 Roads, 2100 Trails, and 4100 

Buildings, each of which have their own associated 

Asset records.

There are also differences in methods of evaluation. 

NPS cultural landscape methods are based on 

historical significance and integrity using the 

National Register of Historic Places Criteria, while 

FMSS evaluates facilities according to physical 

condition and the park’s mission. These values are 

accommodated in FMSS according to the following 

four values assigned to Location records:

1. Asset Priority Index (API) is a value (1-100) 

assigned to a Location record that ranks assets 

in relation to a park’s mission and management 

objectives as a measurement for allocating funding 

to a park’s highest priority assets. The API is scored 

according to four criteria: resource preservation 

(natural and cultural), visitor use, park operations, 

and substitutability (uniqueness of the asset). Each 

criterion is then given one of four values—none, 

low, medium, or high—based on criteria listed in the 

API Scoring Guide (see definitions in Appendix 5). 

For example, a historically significant landscape may 

score high in the resource preservation category, 

but if it scores low in visitor use, park operations, 

and substitutability, it may receive a low API. This 

may be the case with a road that is part of historic 

designed landscape, but is not used by visitors or 

for park operations, and is paralleled by another 

active road.

2. Current Replacement Value (CRV) is an 

approximate industry standard cost estimate for 

current replacement of the entire location (minus 

real estate value), based on numbers updated 

annually by RS Means. For example, a park may 

have a CRV of $350,000 for a formal garden that 

comprises one Location record, which would be 

the cost for reconstruction if the garden and its 

assets were destroyed. Assignment of the CRV 

does not mean the garden will be replaced, but 

rather serves as a tool for parks to determine 

management costs. The CRV is determined using 
Figure 10. Chart showing use of the Asset Priority Index 

(API) and Facility Condition Index (FCI) to inform work 

planning priority related to a Location record. “PM” in the first 

column stands for Preventative Maintenance. (NPS, Asset 

Management Reporting System) 

Facility Condition Index

Asset Priority Index

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 7

a calculator that figures the cost based on the 

Asset Type and Facility Type, or Landscape Types for 

3100 Maintained Landscapes (Appendix 6: sample 

calculator screenshot). The calculator allows a user 

to add in additional costs associated with replacing 

historic or expensive features. 

3. Optimizer Band (OB) is a number, 1-5, assigned 

to each Location record and is based on the 

priority of the Locations each band contains, and 

their importance to the park’s mission. Banding 

suggests a certain level of base funding that should 

be allocated to assets in each band. Band 1 contains 

the highest priority Locations which are critical to 

the operations and purpose of the park or have 

high visitor use, therefore requiring the highest 

base funding.

4. Facility Condition Index (FCI) is a numerical 

measure of physical condition of a Location to help 

prioritize work and funding allocations, reflecting 

a ratio of the cost of work to remedy Deferred 

Maintenance and the Current Replacement Value 

(i.e., DM/CRV = FCI). If a park’s formal garden 

with a CRV of $350,000 has deferred maintenance 

totaling $53,000 (work need to bring it up to 

good condition), it would receive an FCI of 0.15 

(fair condition). An FCI less than 0.1 represents 

a location in good condition, while an FCI greater 

than 0.5 reflects a location in poor condition.

In addition to informing work planning, the FCI 

can influence how a park establishes its FMSS 

Asset inventory. At Acadia National Park, for 

example, the views along the historic motor roads 

were defined as a separate 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes Location record. If the views were 

part of the 1100 Roads Location record, the high 

CRV for the motor roads would result in a very 

low FCI for the Location, meaning the FCI would 

not be in a fundable range for project funds to 

support recurring maintenance on the views. This 

is due to the relatively small cost to maintain the 

views compared with the high cost to maintain 

the roads and their associated built components. 

A separate Location record also allows the views 

to compete more successfully against other 

facilities for project funding.

Work Identification and Planning

Once assets are inventoried and data is entered 

into FMSS, facility managers can generate 

work orders to preserve and enhance the 

character of a cultural landscape by correcting 

deferred maintenance and carrying out recurring 

maintenance. Work orders include job plans, time 

tracking, costs, and work completion data fields, 

along with a list of materials, tools, and labor needed 

to complete the work. Work is identified by cyclical 

condition assessments, CLI condition assessment 

and stabilization measures, and CLR treatment 

plans. Work orders are used to generate PMIS 

(NPS Project Management Information System) 

statements, when project funding is being sought.

Determining what work to do and what level of 

planning is needed should be based on the Asset 

Priority Index (API) and Facility Condition Index 

(FCI). These values create guidelines for the type 

of facility work a Location should receive (fig. 10). 
Figure 12. Cyclical pruning of a historic oak tree at Lyndon 

B. Johnson National Historical Park, 2007. This work is an 

example of Recurring Maintenance (RM), because it is work 

undertaken every few years to retain and perpetuate the 

historic form of the tree. The tree is also pruned for its health 

and the safety of visitors. (NPS Olmsted Center)

Figure 11. Boxwood hedges at Adams National Historical 

Park that are due for shearing, 2012. This planned work is 

an example of Preventative Maintenance (PM) because it is 

performed more than once a year to preserve the geometric 

form of the hedges. (NPS Olmsted Center) 

8 LANDSCAPE LINES

For example, a Location with a low FCI of .05 (good 

condition) and high API of 80 (high value) should be 

retained and receive maintenance to keep it in good 

condition. In contrast, a Location with a FCI of .50 

and an API of 45 may be in such poor condition 

and of minimal resource value to the park that it 

could be considered for removal. Work Orders 

are also prioritized according to Risk Assessment 

Codes (RAC) for Health, Life, and Safety, which are 

values used to determine how quickly deficiencies 

should be remedied. Parks of course consider many 

other factors in work planning in addition to these 

values, such as funding, staffing, and public needs. 

There are three broad categories of work as 

defined in FMSS: Facility Maintenance, Facility 

Operations, and Capital Improvement, each with 

a number of sub work types (Appendix 7: list of 

work sub types). Most cultural landscape treatment, 

preservation maintenance, and stabilization 

measures correspond to the Facility Maintenance 

sub-work types of Preventative Maintenance 

(PM), Recurring Maintenance (RM), Deferred 

Maintenance (DM), and Component Renewal 

(CR).5 Preventative Maintenance is regularly 

scheduled maintenance within a year that typically 

includes inspections and minor adjustments 

such as draining an irrigation system, cleaning 

furnishings, and shearing hedges (fig 11). Recurring 

Maintenance includes activities between 1 and 10 

years such as painting, sign replacement, and cyclic 

pruning (fig. 12). 

Deferred Maintenance is defined as deficiencies 

or problems that are overdue for repair, such as 

rebuilding a slumping road, replanting a missing 

historic tree, or clearing woods to reestablish 

a historic field (fig. 13). Component Renewal, 

meaning the planned replacement of a component 

that has reached the end of its serviceable life, is 

often used for building assets such as roofs, but 

can also be applied to landscape features such as a 

gravel walk surface. Capital Improvement generally 

relates to construction of new features, such as 

the addition of a new visitor center, rest room 

facility, or parking area, rather than reconstruction 

of historic features.

Parks identify needed work in part through 

condition assessments, which are inspections used 

to generate work orders that inform work plans 

within FMSS. Condition assessments may be 
Figure 13. Clearing of successional woods on a historic field 

at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, 2011. This work is 

an example of Deferred Maintenance (DM) because it is 

addressing maintenance (mowing) that had ceased decades 

earlier, leading to growth of the woods. In cultural landscape 

terminology, this work is restoration. (NPS Olmsted Center) 

Figure 14. The horseshoe hedge at the entrance to SaintGaudens National Historic Site, 1996. This overgrown hedge 

is an example of an asset in good condition, but which has 

a deficiency due to lack of historic character. The hedge, 

historically 3 to 4 feet tall and wide, was subsequently replaced 

to reinstate its historic dimensions. (NPS Olmsted Center)

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 9

made by park staff, resource experts, and facilities 

maintenance contractors. The most basic level 

of inspection is Routine Assessments (RA), which 

are made on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to 

identify minor deficiencies such as downed limbs 

or irrigation leaks, leaning fence posts, and pest 

damage. RAs support recurring maintenance 

such as pruning, mulching, and aerating, and also 

set short-term work plans and more in-depth 

assessments for long-term work planning. 

The NPS uses two types of in-depth assessments 

for use in FMSS work planning: 

Condition Assessments -- Annual (CAA): Inspections 

made on a 1-year cycle to identify minor and major 

deficiencies such a broken fence or loss of a tree, 

and to inform work planning through creation of 

work orders for correcting deficiencies.

Condition Assessments -- Comprehensive (CAC): 

Inspections made on a 5-year cycle to identify the 

same issues as the CAA, but at a more detailed 

level. In addition, CACs are used to validate FMSS 

asset inventories, update condition and life cycle 

replacement information, and provide a basis for 

long-range work plans and budget allocations.

CAAs and CACs are based on inspection guidance 

organized according to both Asset Type and NPS 

asset classification. For example, the inspection 

checklist for a specimen tree (Maintained 

Landscapes, classification “Surface/Plant”) includes 

“soil compaction,” “branch/limb problems,” or 

“dead/missing.” Certain checklists, which are based 

on industry standards of maintenance, may not 

take the special needs of historic landscapes in to 

account. For example, a historic bluestone sidewalk 

may be identified as deficient because the stone is 

cracked or because it is too narrow for accessibility 

standards. In contrast, a condition assessment 

could, based on recommendations in a CLR or 

input from park staff, identify an asset in good 

physical condition as having deficiencies due to loss 

of historic character (fig. 14). Business Practices 

developed for the Asset Types, including 3100 

Maintained Landscapes, address how conditions 

assessments should take historic preservation into 

account. 
Sidebar1: Summary of Potential Assistance

by Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Asset Inventories

Data for Location Records

• Advise on identification of Asset Types in a cultural 

landscape

• Provide data to inform the delineation of Location 

boundaries 

• Provide data to identify Location records as historic 

• Participate with park management to assess the API 

Cultural Resource Value

• Describe historic character of Locations (Long 

Description)

• Identify Landscape Type for 3100 Location records 

• Provide existing condition plans to graphically 

document boundaries of Location records

Data for Asset Records

• Provide the cultural landscape feature inventory to 

inform an inventory of Asset records

• Describe historic character of Assets (Long 

Description)

• Identify historic Assets lost to Deferred 

Maintenance 

Work Planning

Condition Assessments

• Provide information on landscape condition and 

integrity issues

• Participate in field work for Comprehensive 

Condition Assessments

Work Orders

• Provide CLR treatment guidelines and tasks, and CLI 

Stabilization Measures to inform creation of work 

orders

• Identify preservation maintenance work as FMSS 

work types

10 LANDSCAPE LINES

2. Guidance on Integrating Cultural

Landscape Data into FMSS

Despite shared outcomes, most cultural landscape 

documents do not readily correlate to FMSS due 

to differing methods and terminology. In order 

to facilitate preservation work, cultural landscape 

data needs to be readily transferable to the FMSS 

maintenance database. Park Cultural Landscapes 

Program staff can assist with transferring this data in 

a number of ways (Sidebar 1: summary of potential 

assistance)

Cultural Landscape Data for FMSS Asset 

Inventories

CLRs, CLIs, and Preservation Maintenance Plans 

can help populate a list of Assets in FMSS and 

provide information on determining the API and 

CRV (Sidebars 2, 3: cultural landscape data for 

an FMSS asset inventory). These reports may 

also inform the delineation of Location record 

boundaries. There is generally no one-to-one 

correlation between the two data sets because 

Location records and Asset records are defined 

by existing Asset Type definitions. However, CLRs, 

CLIs and Preservation Maintenance Plans provide 

information for completing Location and Asset 

records, as well as establishing preventive and 

recurring maintenance plans.

Definition of cultural landscape-related Location 

and Asset records should be undertaken as a 

team approach among facility managers, resource 

managers, and Park Cultural Landscapes Program 

staff. Cultural landscape input should occur early in 

the process, because it is difficult for facility managers 

to change an asset inventory, particularly with 

regard to Location boundaries, once the hierarchy 

has been established. 

Parks with limited FMSS information may use 

cultural landscape data as a baseline for developing 

a list of Asset records. However, cultural landscape 

documents will only provide data for assets that 
CLR

Existing 

Conditions

CLR existing conditions plan 

The existing conditions plan may provide parks with a basemap to 

graphically document all Location record boundaries associated with the 

cultural landscape.

Existing conditions narrative

Existing conditions narrative in a CLR will help parks assign the FMSS 

Landscape Types (such as 3100 Maintained Landscapes). Parks may need 

this information to complete data fields in FMSS and calculate the Current 

Replacement Value. 

Existing conditions documentation on 

dimensions, materials, and other data 

Parks may need this information to complete Location record data fields 

in FMSS. 

Analysis and 

Evaluation

National Register documentation

National Register documentation will allow parks to identify Locations as 

historic, in addition to helping to determine Cultural Resource Preservation 

value for the API.

Landscape evaluation summary (such as 

a summary table) that lists all landscape 

features 

This list will help parks identify potential Asset Types in the cultural 

landscape. For example, a cultural landscape may contain a 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes Location record along with a historic driveway (1100 Roads), a 

historic summerhouse (4100 Buildings), and historic light standards (5400 

Electrical Systems). 

Documentation of landscape character 

areas; or spatially related features 

under Spatial Organization, Cluster 

Arrangement, and Land Use

This data may help parks delineate Location record boundaries. For 

example, a hedge-enclosed garden space (landscape feature) may inform 

boundaries of a 3100 Maintained Landscapes Location record. 

Comparison of historic and existing 

extents of the cultural landscape 

This will allow parks to identify currently unmaintained historic landscapes. 

For example, if a garden was twice as large during the historic period, the 

park may decide to include the previously maintained area within the 3100 

Maintained Landscapes Location boundary to address future restoration.

Summary narrative of historic 

character, derived from the landscape 

characteristic evaluations

Such narratives will allow parks to document the intended historic 

character of the Location. This text is entered in the Location record Long 

Description field. 

Documentation on areas outside of park 

boundaries that contribute to the historic character of the cultural landscape

Parks can enter this documentation in the Location record Long 

Description field. Examples include the external focal point of a vista from 

within the park, or a public streetscape bordering a park. If the NPS is 

bound through a legal agreement to maintain the external land, these areas 

should be captured as part of a Location record. 

CLI

Inventory Unit 

Summary and Site 

Plan

CLI number for the landscape The CLI number will identify Locations records as historic.

CLI site plan

The site plan may serve as a basemap to graphically document Location 

boundaries and the interface of 3100 Maintained Landscapes with other 

Asset Types. There may be no one-to-one correlation between CLI 

boundaries and FMSS Location boundaries. 

Geographic 

Information Inventory Unit Boundary Description

The Inventory Unit Boundary Description may contain data that can inform 

Location record boundaries for 3100 Maintained Landscapes and other 

Asset Types.

Management 

Information

Identification of contributing adjoining 

lands and NPS legal interest in those 

lands

Parks may document this information in the Location record Long 

Description field. If the NPS is bound through a legal agreement to maintain 

the external land, these areas should be captured as part of a Location 

record.

National Register 

Information

National Register Explanatory Narrative, 

Eligibility

National Register information can help parks assign the Cultural Resource 

Preservation value for the Asset Priority Index (API).

Analysis and 

Evaluation of 

Integrity

See Guidance under CLR Analysis and 

Evaluation

PMP

Areas and 

Categories of 

Features

Map showing the areas of the landscape The Preservation Maintenance Plan may inform delineation of Location 

records of 3100 Maintained Landscapes and other Asset Types. 

Text and graphics describing the categories of features The categories of features may help identify Asset Types in the landscape.

CL Data Source CL Data for Location Records Guidance

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 11

Sidebar 2: Cultural Landscape Data for an FMSS Asset Inventory: Location Records
Sidebar 3: Cultural Landscape Data for an FMSS Asset Inventory: Asset Records

CL Data Source CL Data for Asset Records Guidance CLR

Analysis and 

Evaluation

Landscape evaluation summary, 

(table identifying contributing and 

non-contributing features) that lists 

all landscape features 

Parks can use this data to generate an initial Asset list for all Asset Types, and 

to identify Assets as historic. There will probably be no one-to-one correlation 

between cultural landscape features and FMSS Assets records since parks often 

need to group or split features based on various factors aside from cultural 

values. Refer to Sidebar 4 for guidance on converting landscape characteristics 

and features to FMSS Asset records. 

Prioritized list of landscape features 

that identifies those that should be 

included in the FMSS asset inventory 

as soon as possible

This data, which can be incorporated into the prior guidance, will help parks 

focus their efforts to ensure that the most important historic Assets are 

adequately addressed in FMSS work planning. For example, if a deteriorating 

historic wall is not captured in FMSS, it has a greater chance of not receiving 

required treatment, or receiving inappropriate maintenance that does not 

preserve or enhance its historic character. 

Concise summary of historic 

character for assets that have no 

other cultural data source

Parks can insert this data in the Asset record Long Description field to 

document how an historic Asset should look and how it should be maintained. 

A CLR is usually the primary source of cultural data on Assets that correlate 

to Circulation, Vegetation, and Small-Scale Features. Buildings/structures and 

archeological sites generally are documented in other reports. For example, a 

park may have plans and specifications for its exterior lighting system (SmallScale Features), but no reports that document its historic character and 

significance. 

Documentation on the relationship 

of features associated with Spatial 

Organization, Land Use, Cultural 

Traditions, Cluster Arrangement, and 

Views & Vistas to maintained Assets 

These landscape characteristics can be documented in the FMSS Asset records 

which are associated with the Location records of Maintained Landscapes and 

other Asset Types. Parks should describe this relationship in the corresponding 

Asset record Long Description field. For example, a perimeter hedge (an FMSS 

Asset record) that defines a garden space should note in its Long Description 

how it maintains the historic garden space (a Spatial Organization feature).

Documentation on missing historic 

landscape features that warrant 

reestablishment and future inclusion 

as Asset records

Missing historic landscape features should not be included as part of the Asset 

record inventory, but rather be recorded outside of the FMSS as deficiencies. 

Once the park is moving forward with re-establishing the feature or has 

reestablished the feature, a new Asset record can be added.

CLI

Analysis and 

Evaluation of 

Integrity

Landscape characteristic narratives 

and list of landscape features for 

each characteristic

Parks can use this list to generate an initial Asset list for all Asset Types. The CLI 

Landscape Characteristic narrative should be consulted, and any features listed in 

the narrative but not in the feature fields should be added to the list of cultural 

landscape data.

There will probably be no one-to-one correlation between cultural landscape 

features and FMSS Asset records since parks often need to group or split 

features based on various factors aside from cultural values. Refer to Sidebar 4 

for guidance on converting landscape characteristics and features to FMSS Asset 

records. The CLI inventory will generally include most documentation from the 

List of Classified Structures (LCS); however, the LCS should be consulted in 

addition to the CLI to ensure that all previously inventoried built features are 

addressed in the Asset record list. 

See also guidance under CLR Analysis and Evaluation.

PMP

Inventory of 

Landscape 

Features

Inventory of landscape features

Parks can use this inventory to generate an initial Asset list for all Asset Types. 

Because this list generally includes only maintained landscape features, it 

may align with an FMSS asset inventory, but features may be split or grouped 

differently. This list may not identify historic (contributing) features.

Feature Data

Information on location, existing 

conditions, and historical appearance 

of landscape features

This information can be used to complete data fields in FMSS Asset records. 

For additional guidance, refer to the Asset Business Practices and Asset Best Management Practices for each Asset Type available through InsideNPS, http://

inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=190&lv=4

12 LANDSCAPE LINES
Figure 15. The parade ground, a Spatial Organization feature 

at Fort Baker in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 2009. 

While the parade ground space is not captured in an FMSS 

Asset inventory, its component turf and perimeter trees can be 

entered as assets of a 3100 Maintained Landscapes Location. 

(SUNY ESF)

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 13

define the physical historic character of a landscape. 

Below-ground utilities or contemporary site 

furnishings such as directional signs and garbage 

cans are typically not inventoried in cultural 

landscape documents.

The actual data that can be provided will depend 

on the landscape. A CLR for a parkway would 

primarily involve the 1100 Roads Asset Type, while 

a CLR for a forest may contain 2100 Trails and 

1100 Roads Asset Types, with much of the natural 

landscape outside the scope of FMSS since it 

does not track natural resources. Definition of 

Location record boundaries for 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes often require more analysis than other 

Asset Types given the often complex interface with 

other assets and natural resources. 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes Location records are mostly populated 

by the characteristics of Vegetation and SmallScale Features, while Circulation, Topography, and 

Buildings and Structures are often categorized as 

other Asset Types. Small buildings and landscape 

structures are, however, often captured under 3100 

Maintained Landscapes.6

Certain cultural landscape characteristics and 

features do not translate directly into discrete 

FMSS records, but can inform facility management 

goals for Locations and Assets (Sidebar 4: guidance 

on translating cultural landscape characteristics 

and features to an FMSS asset inventory). These 

include Spatial Organization, Land Use, Cultural 

Traditions, Cluster Arrangement, and Views and 

Vistas because they are composed of maintained 

features found under other characteristics. For 

example, the parade ground at Fort Baker in 

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a Spatial 

Organization landscape feature, is maintained 

by the turf and perimeter trees (Vegetation), 

streets (Circulation), and buildings (Buildings 

and Structures), which are categorized under 

three Asset Types (1100 Roads, 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, and 4100 Buildings) (fig. 15). Exclusion 

of cultural landscape characteristics or features 

from an FMSS asset inventory does not diminish 

their historic significance or mean a feature 

will not be preserved. The primary purpose of 

delineating Location and Asset records within FMSS 

is to support operational needs, which ultimately 

support stewardship.

After an Asset inventory is generated, Facility 

Management and Cultural Resources staff should 

conduct a walk-through of the site with maps 

and narratives to ground truth Location record 

boundaries, the inventory of Asset records, and 

the cultural landscape data. 

When parks develop an asset inventory from 

CLRs, CLIs, and Preservation Maintenance Plans, 

it is helpful to create a summary crosswalk table 

that correlates the relationships and discrepancies 

between data sets for each landscape characteristic 

and feature, including data from other cultural 

resource inventories, such as the List of Classified 

Structures for Buildings (sample crosswalk table 

in Appendix 8).

Cultural Landscape Data for FMSS Work Planning

Cultural landscape data can inform condition 

assessments and the development of FMSS work 
Sidebar 4: Translating Cultural Landscape Characteristics to an FMSS Asset Inventory

Cultural Landscape

Characteristic

Feature Examples

Typical FMSS 

Asset Type

(Location Record)

NPS Asset

Classification

Guidance on Translating Characteristics and Features

to Locations and Assets

Natural Systems and 

Features

Stream, swamp, marsh, 

beach, dune, pond, lake, 

desert, natural landform, 

unmanaged natural 

vegetation (woods, 

grasslands, chaparral) 

n/a n/a

Natural Systems and Features are often character-defining parts of 

a cultural landscape, but they are typically not included in an Asset 

inventory. Natural features that receive periodic maintenance, such 

as woods that require pruning along a roadway or field, are managed 

as buffer areas of the related road or field, and not as maintained 

landscapes on their own. 

Natural features may define boundaries of Maintained Landscapes 

Location records, such as where the developed/constructed landscape 

ends and the natural unmaintained area begins. 

Spatial Organization

Corral, garden, forecourt, 

yard, field, pasture, plaza, 

quadrangle, terrace, road/

trail corridor, amphitheater

0000 Site

3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 3800 

Boundary, 7300 

Fortifications, 7100 

Monuments, 7900 

Amphitheaters 

n/a

Spatial Organization may correlate to Location records, but generally 

does not translate as Asset records because spatial features are 

typically defined by Assets inventoried under other characteristics. For 

example, a formal garden space may be a 3100 Location record, but 

the maintained assets are the hedges, buildings, and fences that define 

the space (but alone are not the space), which would be inventoried 

in a CLR/CLI under Vegetation, Buildings and Structures, and SmallScale Features. The relationship of these features to the landscape’s 

Spatial Organization should be explained in their Asset record Long 

Description field. Spatial features/assets can also be listed in relevant 

Location records, including 0000 Site Locations.

Land Use 

Picnic area, campground, 

meeting place, cemetery, 

staff housing area, 

recreation area, garden, 

quarry

1300 Parking Area, 

3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 4100 

Buildings, 6300 Marinas, 

7100 Monuments, 7300 

Fortifications, etc.

n/a

Land Use may translate to Location records, but generally not as 

Asset records because land-use features are typically defined by Assets 

inventoried under other characteristics. For example, a campground 

land use feature could be a 3100 Location record, but the maintained 

Assets are the mown turf and picnic tables that comprise the feature, 

which would be inventoried in a CLR/CLI under Vegetation and SmallScale Features. The relationship of these features to the landscape’s 

Land Use should be explained in their Asset record Long Description 

field. 

Cultural Traditions 

A lake sacred to Native 

Americans, the use of 

adobe as a building material 

in New Mexico

3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 4100 

Buildings

n/a

Cultural Traditions may translate to a Maintained Landscape Location 

record if other Asset Types do not capture the entire feature. Generally, 

Cultural Traditions do not correspond to a Location or Asset 

records because they either are unmaintained natural features, or are 

inventoried only at the characteristic level as non-tangible resources, or 

tangible resources inventoried under other characteristics, such adobe 

walls that are part of Buildings and Structures. 

Cluster Arrangement

A farmstead, crossroads 

village, series of coastal 

defensive works

0000 Site, 3100 

Maintained Landscapes, 

4100 Buildings, 7300 

Fortifications

n/a

Cluster Arrangement may translate as a Location record, but is often 

inventoried only at the characteristic level, with associated features 

captured under other characteristics. For example, a cluster of 

coastal defense batteries would be c composed of Location records 

inventoried in a CLR/CLI under Buildings and Structures. Cluster 

Arrangement should be described in the Long Description field of 

the associated Asset records. If a Site record exists, information about 

the cluster arrangement can be added to the 0000 Site record Long 

Description field.

14 LANDSCAPE LINES
Sidebar 4 (continued)

Cultural Landscape

Characteristic

Feature Examples

Typical FMSS 

Asset Type

(Location Record)

NPS Asset

Classification

Guidance on Translating Characteristics and Features

to Locations and Assets

Circulation

Road, parkway, driveway, 

parking lot, scenic pull-off/

overlook, sidewalk, hiking 

trail, steps, ski trail, railroad, 

runway

1100 Roads, 1300 

Parking Area, 2100 

Trails, 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 6400 

Aviation Systems, 6500 

Railroad Systems

Structure

Surface

Circulation translates as Roads, Parking Areas, and Trails Location 

and Asset records. If they are spurs or driveways, or trails or walks 

contained within the landscape, they may be associated Asset records 

of the Maintained Landscapes Location record.

Landscape features beyond the engineered cross-section of a road, 

for example plantings and turf along a parkway, should be Maintained 

Landscapes Asset records. 

Trails and walks that extend beyond a Maintained Landscapes Location 

should be part of a Trails Location record, except those that connect to 

another Maintained Landscapes Location record. Roads presently used 

as trails are 2100 Trails. 

Topography

Terrace, berm, shoulder, 

drainage ditch, earthen 

dam, canal prism, defensive 

earthwork

1100 Roads, 2100 

Trails, 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 6100 

Dams/ Levees, 

6200 Constructed 

Waterways, 7300 

Fortifications

Structure

Surface

Water Control

Topography typically translates as Assets records of Maintained 

Landscapes, unless they are within the engineered cross-section 

of a road (1100), trail (2100), or are part of a dam or levee (6100), 

constructed waterway (6200); or are part of a defensive earthwork 

(7300). Topographic features such as terraces and berms often receive 

no maintenance, as such they may not be documented as an Asset 

record. 

Topographic features can also help define boundaries of Maintained 

Landscapes Location records. For example, a steep slope that meets 

a flat area in the landscape and creates a clear delineation between 

areas may form a boundary between two Maintained Landscapes 

Location records. Topographical information can be added to the Long 

Description of a location record.

Vegetation

Lawn, field crop, pasture, 

garden plants, foundation 

shrubs, hedge, vine, orchard, 

specimen tree, allee, 

windbreak, forest plantation

3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 1100 

Roads, 1300 Parking 

Areas, 2100 Trails, 

6200 Constructed 

Waterways, 6300 

Marinas, 7100 

Monuments, 7300 

Fortifications, etc.

Surface

Vegetation (managed vegetation as opposed to natural systems) 

generally translates to Asset records of Maintained Landscapes 

Locations. Cultural landscape data may not inventory turf, crops, 

or grazing pasture as individual Vegetation features. These may be 

referenced under other characteristics, such as Land Use or Spatial 

Organization. Woods, hedgerows, and field grasses that are periodically 

maintained are often managed as natural “buffer areas” and not as 

Maintained Landscapes Assets records. Vegetation managed as part of 

other asset types, such as Roads, Trails, Monuments, and Maintained 

Archeological Sites, may be captured under those Location records. Turf 

on a defensive earthwork, or associated camouflage plantings, should be 

part of 7300 Fortifications records. 

Buildings and 

Structures

House, barn, silo, shed, 

apartment building, 

barracks, pavilion, bridge, 

culvert, retaining wall, 

staircase, stone fence

1700 Road Bridges,

2200 Trail Bridges, 3100 

Maintained Landscapes, 

3800 Boundary, 

4100 Buildings, 4300 

Housing, 6300 Marinas, 

7100 Monuments, 7300 

Fortifications, etc.

Barriers and 

Fencing

Communication

Electrical

Exhibit 

Furnishing

Liquid & Gas

Structure

Water Control

Buildings and Structures may translate to Assets of a Maintained 

Landscapes Location record if they are minor features such as arbors, 

pavilions, pergolas, retaining walls, decks, or platforms. Most buildings 

comprise individual 4100 Location records. 

Structures are classified under a variety of Asset Types, with 1700, 

2200, 6300, 7100, and 7300 common in cultural landscapes. Buildings 

and Structures that are part of functioning mechanical or utility 

systems, such as a free-standing chimney, should be classified with their 

appropriate asset type, such as 5300 Heating & Cooling Plants. Those 

that are no longer part of active mechanical or utility systems may be 

classified as assets of Maintained Landscapes Location records or 7200 

Maintained Archeological Site records. 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 15
Cultural Landscape

Characteristic

Feature Examples

Typical FMSS 

Asset Type

(Location Record)

NPS Asset

Classification

Guidance on Translating Characteristics and Features

to Locations and Assets

Views and Vistas 

Overlook, panorama, 

prospect of a distant 

feature

1100 Roads, 1300 

Parking Areas, 2100 

Trails, 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, or n/a

n/a

Views and vistas typically translate into Assets of Location records, such 

as a scenic overlook that is an Asset of a 1100 Roads Location record. 

Views and vistas, such as a system of views along a road, can also be 

defined as their own Maintained Landscapes Location record. Views and 

vistas may not translate into Asset records if they are defined by Assets 

inventoried in cultural landscape data under other characteristics, such 

as turf (Vegetation) that provides open space of a prospect toward a 

distant hill. Incidental views that are not specifically managed may be 

documented only at the characteristic level and have no associated 

features. The objects of the view or vista, such as a distant church spire 

or mountaintop, are not captured in FMSS as distinct Asset records 

if the NPS has no legal interest in them. The object of view should be 

described in the relevant Long Description field in any case. 

Constructed Water 

Features

Swimming pool, reflecting 

pool, fountain, canal, open 

reservoir

3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 5100 

Water Systems, 

6200 Constructed 

Waterways, 7100 

Monuments

Exhibit

Liquid & Gas

Structure

Water Control

Constructed Water Features generally translate as Asset records of 

Maintained Landscape Location records. Active or watered canals are 

Constructed Waterways, and functioning reservoirs are Water Systems. 

Pools or fountains associated with a large monument or memorial can 

be an Asset of the respective 7100 Monument and Memorial Location. 

If a utilitarian water feature, such as open-water reservoir, is no longer 

in use but retains water, it may be a 3100 Asset or 7200 Asset. 

Small-Scale Features

Fence, bench, monument, 

sign, grave marker, flagpole, 

water fountain, light 

standard, planter, bollard, 

guardrail

1100 Roads, 2100 

Trails, 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 3800 

Boundaries, 5400 

Electrical Systems, 

7100 Monuments, 7500 

Interpretive Media

Barriers & 

Fencing

Electrical

Exhibit

Furnishing

Liquid & Gas

Sculpture

Signage & 

Marking

Small-Scale Features are often Assets of a Maintained Landscape 

Location record, but may also translate to other Asset types. 

Benches are generally Maintained Landscapes (3100), while guardrails, 

streetlights, or traffics signs within the engineered cross-section of 

a road generally translate to a Roads (1100) Location record. Light 

standards along a walk or utility poles may be part of electrical 

systems (5400), while fire hydrants or drinking fountains are part of 

a water system (5100). Interpretive waysides and similar signs are 

part of interpretive media (7500). Fences or stone posts that demark 

boundaries may be classified as Boundaries (3800). 

Archeological Sites

Building foundation 

remnant, road trace, grave, 

remnant fence post, ruins

3100 Maintained 

Landscapes, 

7200 Maintained 

Archeological Sites, 

7300 Fortifications

Archeological

Archeological Sites as landscape features (sites with above-ground 

resources) may be assets of a Maintained Landscapes Location record 

if the feature does not receive or require management principally to 

protect the integrity of the feature as an archeological resource. Most 

maintained cemeteries and battlefields are classified as Maintained 

Landscapes Location records, with archeological information noted in 

Long Description fields. If an archeological site meets National Register 

Criterion D, it should be documented under Maintained Archeological 

Sites (7200). Buildings or structures significant primarily for their 

archeology, such as Native American cliff dwellings, may be classified 

under 7200. 

Sidebar 4 (continued)

16 LANDSCAPE LINES
Figure 16. Historic vines on Fairsted, Frederick Law Olmsted 

National Historic Site, 1995. The vines are an example of a 

cultural landscape feature that does not meet current building facility condition standards, but is an important part of 

the landscape’s historic character. The solution to this issue 

was to train the vines on a trellis system that keeps the vegetation off the building and allows for removal for inspection 

and painting. (SUNY ESF)

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 17

orders (Sidebars 5, 6: cultural landscape data for 

FMSS work planning). Depending on the type of 

landscape, guidance will generally focus on work 

planning for 3100 Maintained Landscapes Location 

records and associated Assets, since these are 

most closely related to cultural landscapes, but 

should also extend to work orders for other Asset 

Types that are included in CLR treatment, CLI 

stabilization measures, or Preservation Maintenance 

Plan work specifications. These other Asset Types 

often include 2100 Trails, 7100 Monuments & 

Memorials, and 7300 Fortifications. While CLRs, 

CLIs, and Preservation Maintenance Plans can 

contain core data, they will generally not provide 

all information that parks need to develop work 

planning associated with cultural landscapes.

Although FMSS is a powerful tool for cultural 

landscape work planning, it cannot provide the 

comprehensive treatment and maintenance 

guidance that is in CLRs and Preservation 

Maintenance Plans. CLRs and Preservation 

Maintenance Plans provide parks with explanation 

of a comprehensive treatment philosophy and 

overall landscape treatment and maintenance goals 

that cannot be readily conveyed through FMSS 

work planning.

For condition assessments, cultural landscape data 

will inform facility managers about the specific 

management objectives for a park’s cultural 

landscapes. Because condition assessments 

can address the need for both preservation 

maintenance and treatment, cultural landscape 

documents provide information necessary to 

identify issues pertaining to both physical condition 

and historical integrity (Sidebar 7: translating 

cultural landscape terms to FMSS work planning). 

Condition assessments should be undertaken 

through a team approach, including subject 

matter experts in landscape management, cultural 

landscape preservation, and maintenance to work 

alongside facilities specialists leading the inspections.

There may be disagreement between cultural 

landscape maintenance/treatment and facilities 

industry standards of maintenance that inform 

condition assessments. For example, building 

conservation standards generally recommend 

against growth of vines on buildings. At Fairsted, the 

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the 

vines on the house are a character-defining feature 

of the cultural landscape, and are therefore not 

identified as a condition deficiency (fig. 16). Historic 

features such as worn stone steps, single-glazed 

windows, and lichen-covered stone walls should 

not be identified as deficiencies when corrective 

work to meet industry standards would diminish 

historic character. Resulting work orders should 

strive to retain authentic historic qualities and 

character to the longest extent feasible in keeping 

with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the 

Treatment of Historic Properties and park-specific 

preservation goals and objectives.

There may be no direct, one-to-one correlation 

between cultural landscape recommended work 

(CLR treatment or CLI stabilization measures) and 

FMSS work orders. A park may often reorganize 
CLR

Existing 

Conditions

Summary of condition (physical 

condition) issues

Parks can use this as baseline documentation for annual and comprehensive 

condition assessments (CAAs, CACs).

Analysis and 

Evaluation

Documentation on landscape features 

that have lost historic character, or 

have been removed (see also following 

Treatment category)

Parks can use this information to identify loss of historic character as a 

deficiency to be addressed during annual and comprehensive condition 

assessments (CAAs, CACs). For example, if a walk was historically gravel, 

its current asphalt surface could be identified as a deficiency; or if a tree 

was removed after the historic period and not replaced, it could be 

identified as a deficiency. 

Treatment

Treatment philosophy (or similar 

narrative) that summarizes the intended 

appearance of the landscape

The treatment philosophy or similar narrative can give those making 

condition assessments an overview of the intended condition of the 

landscape. For example, the treatment philosophy may note that a 

landscape should have a high level of maintenance, a condition that would 

be informative for inspectors if the existing physical condition is poor. This 

information should be added to the Long Description record of all related 

Location records (not just 3100 Maintained Landscapes).

Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for 

the Treatment of Historic Properties (If 

treatment philosophy is not available)

The Standards can give inspectors, particularly those without historic 

preservation experience, an understanding of how the NPS treats historic 

properties. For example, the Standards will convey the philosophy that 

historic materials should be retained where possible, and that repair is 

preferable over replacement. Pertinent guidance should be entered into 

the Long Description of the Location record (do not add generic guidance 

from the Standards). 

Treatment tasks that prescribe 

reestablishment or enhancement of 

landscape features 

Parks can use this information to identify loss of historic character as a 

deficiency to be addressed during CAAs and CACs. (See examples under 

Analysis and Evaluation category above.)

CLI

Condition 

Assessment

CLI Condition Assessment Explanatory 

Narrative

This narrative will give an overview of physical condition issues in the 

landscape to be addressed during CAAs and CACs. 

Impacts to Inventory Unit table This data will identify specific condition issues in the landscape to be 

addressed during CAAs and CACs.

Stabilization Measures 

Parks can use the Stabilization Measures to identify loss of historic 

character as a deficiency to be addressed during CAAs and CACs. (See 

examples under CLR Analysis and Evaluation category above.)

Approved Landscape Treatment 

Explanatory Narrative

The landscape treatment narrative will provide inspectors with a brief 

overview of the intended appearance of the landscape, as a benchmark for 

assessing historic character as part of condition assessments. This should be 

documented in the deficiency work order Long Description field.

PMP

Field Inspection Field inspection summary sheets

The Field Inspection section in Preservation Maintenance Plan (PMP) 

provides data on physical condition issues as well as integrity issues (such 

as missing historic trees) for all types of condition assessments. Depending 

on the age of the plan, the field inspection may require updating. 

For additional guidance, refer to the Asset Business Practices and Asset Best Management Practices for each Asset Type, available through http://inside.nps.

gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=190&lv=4. These documents include Inspection Guidance and other related documents.

CL Data Source CL Data for Condition

Assessments

Guidance on Translating CL Data to Condition

Assessments

18 LANDSCAPE LINES

Sidebar 5: Cultural Landscape Data for FMSS Work Planning: Condition Assessments
Sidebar 6: Cultural Landscape Data for FMSS Work Planning: Work Orders

CL Data Source CL Data for Work Orders Guidance on Translating CL Data to Work Orders CLR

Treatment

Treatment guidelines narrative (broad 

recommendations for landscape 

treatment and maintenance)

Treatment guidelines may align with FMSS work orders for Preventative 

Maintenance and Recurring Maintenance. For example, the guideline that 

a landscape be maintained with a well-tended appearance may translate 

into more frequent hedge shearing that occurs bimonthly (equivalent to 

Preventative Maintenance), rather than annually (Routine Maintenance).

Treatment tasks (narrative and graphics) 

Identify treatment tasks that align with FMSS work orders. See Appendix 

7 for definition of work types. Since CLR treatment is generally developed 

at the conceptual level, it will likely not provide all data necessary for 

completion of work orders.

Prioritized list of treatment tasks 

A prioritized list of treatment tasks can help parks understand the work 

most critically needed to preserve and enhance the landscape’s historic 

character, and develop FMSS work planning accordingly. 

CLI

Condition 

Assessment

Stabilization Measures Description 

CLI Stabilization Measures may be directly translated into the FMSS scope 

of work statement found in the Long Description field of work orders. 

These generally align with Deferred Maintenance.

Stabilization Cost information

This information may inform cost estimating data in FMSS work orders. 

The costs identified under CLI Treatment are generally too broad for 

FMSS work orders. 

PMP

Summary of Work 

Needed

Work needed information and list of 

features in need of work, along with field 

notes, and special considerations for 

historic appearance, design, or significance

This information can be applied to FMSS through work order creation, 

mostly in the categories of Facility Operations, Preventative Maintenance, 

and Recurring Maintenance, but often also Deferred Maintenance for 

reestablishing or enhancing historic features. Include data on preservation 

techniques, materials, replacement strategies, and cost estimating to help 

parks plan for and obtain funding. Depending on the park’s Preservation 

Maintenance Plan record keeping, there may also be data on materials 

used, time spent, etc. that may inform FMSS work order data fields. 

Feature Data Feature Data 

The feature data can inform FMSS work orders of the relevant Asset 

record, type, and scope of work. It may include feature name, descriptive 

characteristics, historical appearance, preservation practices and 

work procedures, potential problems or pests, and sources of repair/

replacement parks or propagation.

Calendar Cyclical Maintenance Activities

The Calendar section of a PMP can be directly associated with creating 

FMSS work orders for Recurring Maintenance, Preventative Maintenance, 

and possibly Component Renewal. 

For additional guidance, refer to the Asset Business Practices and Asset Best Management Practices for each Asset Type, available through http://inside.nps.

gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=190&lv=4. These documents include Inspection Guidance and other related documents.

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 19
Figure 17. The Deferred Maintenance needs of an overgrown 

historic yew hedge are identified by a multi-disciplinary team 

at Antietam National Battelfield. (WASO, PHSCL)

Figure 18. The need for stabilization of a historic apple tree 

at Manzanar National Historic Site that has dead-wood and 

unbalanced limbs is identified in FMSS as a “DM” work order. 

(WASO, PHSCL)

20 LANDSCAPE LINES

and redefine treatment tasks to accommodate 

the operational constraints, materials, costs, 

and larger park work planning that are taken 

into consideration when writing a work order. 

General treatment guidelines, such as those 

that provide overall guidance on preserving and 

enhancing historic character, may indirectly inform 

development of work orders. Preservation 

Maintenance Plans, since they identify and describe 

work tasks, generally parallel FMSS work planning 

more so than CLRs or CLIs (see Sidebar 7). CLI 

stabilization measures, CLR treatment guidelines 

and tasks, and Preservation Maintenance Plan 

tasks can be written to correlate closely with the 

format of FMSS work orders. This is important 

as project funding requests for all facility projects 

must originate in FMSS work orders.

Work orders may be based on historic cyclical 

in-kind replacement that can be identified 

as Preventative Maintenance(PM), Recurring 

Maintenance (RM), or Component Renewal (CR). 

Examples include replacement of a wood-shingle 

roof, seasonal removal and replanting of flowering 

annuals in a garden bed, or renewal of a stonedust surface on a garden path. Long-term cycles, 

such as replacement of a 150-year-old tree in 

advanced decline, may correlate with Deferred 

Maintenance (DM) or Component Renewal 

(CR). Such Work Orders should provide for 

in-kind replacement of materials that perpetuate 

the historic asset (landscape feature) indefinitely.
Cultural LandscapeTerm

FMSS Term Guidance

CLR CLI PMP

Condition 

Assessment 

(part of Existing 

Conditions)

Condition 

Assessment Field Inspection

Condition Assessment

(RA, CAA, CAC)

Condition should not be confused with “integrity” 

as used in a National Register or cultural landscape 

evaluation. A condition assessment may address 

integrity, such as in identifying missing historic features as 

deferred maintenance (DM). 

n/a n/a n/a

Facility Operations

(FO)

FO are work activities performed on a recurring basis 

throughout the year that intend to meet routine, daily 

park operational needs. Examples include weeding, 

watering, and lawn mowing. CLR treatment and PMPs 

may address FO in guidance for the level of maintenance 

appropriate to the landscape’s historic character. 

Preservation Preservation Routine 

Maintenance

Preventative Maintenance 

(PM)

PM involves regularly scheduled minor maintenance 

such as annual seasonal pruning, irrigation system 

winterization, and raking gravel walks. PM is typically 

prescribed in PMPs, not in CLRs or CLIs. 

Preservation, 

Rehabilitation

Preservation, 

Rehabilitation Cyclic Maintenance Recurring Maintenance (RM)

RM is maintenance between 1 and 10 year cycles such as 

tree pruning or resurfacing stone aggregate walkways. It 

may be prescribed in all three CL documents, but most 

detail is in a PMP. 

Restoration, 

Rehabilitation

Stabilization; 

Restoration, 

Rehabilitation 

Stabilization

Deferred Maintenance

(DM)

DM is maintenance that was not performed when it 

should have been. Continued deferred maintenance 

results in deficiencies. Examples of DM include replacing 

a dying tree, rebuilding deteriorated fencing, or repairing 

a collapsed stone wall. DM correlates to CLR treatment 

tasks, CLI stabilization, and PMP stabilization. Lost 

features recommended for reestablishment in a CLR, 

such as a tree that was removed and never replaced, are 

DM. 

Rehabilitation, 

Reconstruction n/a n/a Capital Improvement (CI)

CI is new construction such as reestablishing a missing 

orchard or road. It may be included in CLR treatment as 

part of a Rehabilitation or Reconstruction treatment, but 

not in a PMP or CLI. 

Treatment Task Stabilization 

Measures Work Needed

Work Order

(Parent Work Order)

FMSS Work Orders may be defined directly from CLR 

treatment tasks, CLI stabilization measures, and PMP 

“work needed.” The scope of work should be captured 

in the Long Description field. 

Treatment Task or 

Component n/a Work Needed

Work Order Task

(Child Work Order)

A Work Order Task is a component of a Work Order 

(Parent Work Order). Work Order Tasks are typically 

basic steps in completing a job, such as “010 removing 

existing vegetation,” “050 dig holes for new vegetation,” 

etc. 

Record of 

Treatment (CLR 

Part III)

n/a Record Keeping Work Order Tracking

Since few CLR Records of Treatment are completed, 

FMSS provides an opportunity for parks to consistently 

track implementation of landscape treatment and 

preservation maintenance. 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 21

Sidebar 7: Translating Cultural Landscape Terms to FMSS Work Planning
Sidebar 8: 

Sample CLR Outline with FMSS Data

CLR Existing Conditions (CLR Part 1)

Existing FMSS Overview

• Use of FMSS for cultural resource and landscape 

management

• Existing park FMSS data and how it relates to the 

cultural landscape

• Existing conditions plan with boundaries of all 

applicable Location Records

CLR Analysis and Evaluation (CLR Part 1)

Landscape Condition

• Condition with any pertinent Asset information

• Correlation between condition issues and FMSS 

work types

• Condition assessment guidance on integrating 

historic character with industry standards

Cultural Landscape Evaluation

• Cultural landscape data for FMSS Asset inventory 

• Landscape Type recommendation for each 3100 

Location record

• Recommendations for assessing the Cultural 

Resource Preservation value in the Asset Priority 

Index (API)

• Recommendations for assessing the Current 

Replacement Value (CRV) for Location records

• Crosswalk table between CL data and FMSS asset 

inventory

CLR Treatment (CLR Part 2)

Treatment Guidelines and Tasks

• Using treatment guidelines to define goals and 

objectives for Preventative Maintenance, Recurring 

Maintenance, and Deferred Maintenance

• Correlation of treatment tasks as Deferred 

Maintenance, or other appropriate work types

• Organization of tasks to align with FMSS Location 

and Asset records

• Existing Location boundaries on graphic treatment 

plans

Treatment Implementation

• Identification of treatment task priorities

• Identification of additional information needed for 

FMSS work orders

• Potential FMSS work order costing

• Summary table correlating CLR treatment and FMSS 

work planning

• Potential NPS funding sources for treatment

• Potential PMIS statements

CLR Record of Treatment (CLR Part 3)

 FMSS “actuals” may serve as the CLR Record of 

Treatment

22 LANDSCAPE LINES

3. Addressing FMSS in Cultural Landscape

Reports

To facilitate stewardship, it is important for data in 

CLRs to be easily transferable to FMSS. Modest 

changes and additions to the content and format 

of a CLR can help to more effectively transfer 

cultural landscape data to FMSS Asset inventories 

and work planning. Development of a CLR with 

FMSS data requires additional content in the 

Existing Conditions, Analysis and Evaluation, and 

Treatment sections (Sidebar 8: sample CLR outline 

with FMSS data). 

The following recommendations for addressing 

FMSS in a CLR serve as a supplement to A Guide 

to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and 

Techniques (1998).

Scoping FMSS Assistance in a CLR

Facility Management staff should be included on 

the CLR project scoping team to determine the 

desired level of FMSS guidance. Some parks may 

have little FMSS data for their cultural landscapes 

and therefore look to the CLR as a primary source. 

Other parks may ask for limited FMSS input because 

they already have comprehensive FMSS data, or 

wish to keep their FMSS database simple. All FMSS 

recommendations in a CLR need to be made in 

close consultation with facility managers because 

cultural landscape data is only one of several 

factors that parks consider when developing their 

FMSS Asset inventory and work planning (Sidebar 

9: typical roles and responsibilities for integrating 

FMSS data in CLRs).

Most CLR projects can incorporate basic FMSS 

guidance without broadening the project scope. 

This may include preliminary recommendations on 

integrating cultural landscape data into an FMSS 

asset inventory and correlating CLR treatment 

guidelines and tasks with FMSS data. At a minimum, 

this may include using the Analysis and Evaluation to 

correlate landscape features with existing park FMSS 
CLR Project

Components Project Scoping Site History

Existing

Conditions Analysis and Evaluation Treatment

Objective in 

Integrating 

FMSS with Each 

CLR Project 

Component

Determine the scope of FMSS 

recommendations in the CLR

Determine what level of 

effort and time commitment 

will be needed from park 

facilities staff to assist with 

the FMSS aspect of the CLR

n/a

Document existing 

FMSS data related to 

the cultural landscape

Organize condition assessment 

by FMSS Locations

Recommend Asset Types 

that characterize the cultural 

landscape, along with the 

Cultural Resource Preservation 

value in the API and the 

Current Replacement Value for 

Location records.

Identify the relationship 

of preventative 

maintenance (PM), 

recurring maintenance 

(RM), and deferred 

maintenance (DM), and 

other work types to 

landscape treatment 

guidelines and tasks.

CLR Author’s 

Role and 

Responsibilities

Facilitate project scoping 

meeting

Develop project scope

n/a

Facilitate discussions 

Develop existing 

conditions 

documentation

Facilitate FMSS hierarchy 

meeting

Undertake condition 

assessment

Write recommendations for 

addressing cultural landscape 

values in the FMSS Asset 

inventory, and assessing the 

Cultural Resource Preservation 

value for the API for each 

Location.

Develop a crosswalk 

between CLR treatment 

guidelines and tasks and 

FMSS work orders 

Prepare work orders 

for preservation actions 

that fall into PM, and, in 

particular RM and DM 

(to assist with funding 

applications for cyclic and 

repair rehab funding).

Park Staff 

Participation

Cultural resources staff 

Facilities staff n/a Facilities staff Cultural resources staff Facilities staff

Cultural resources staff 

Facilities staff

Park Staff 

Roles and 

Responsibilities

Participate in project scoping 

meeting

n/a

Provide 

documentation on 

existing FMSS data

Provide GIS-compliant 

spatial data for 

Locations and Assets

Participate in condition 

assessment and determining 

organization of FMSS, if desired.

Participate in developing 

recommendations for FMSS 

Location records related to 

the cultural landscape, and 

assigning the Cultural Resource 

Preservation value for the API.

Review and comment on 

CLR-FMSS crosswalk.

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 23

Sidebar 9: Typical Roles and Responsibilities for Integrating FMSS Data in CLRs
24 LANDSCAPE LINES

Location and Asset records, and using treatment 

to identify Deferred Maintenance work needed to 

preserve and enhance the cultural landscape. CLRs 

can also readily inform Preventative Maintenance 

and Recurring Maintenance in treatment guidelines, 

and provide documentation of historic significance 

that will influence the rating of the Cultural 

Resource Preservation criteria of the API and 

Resource Risk Assessment Code (R-RAC) scoring 

on work orders. 

Advanced FMSS guidance may require additional 

CLR project funding and coordination with park 

regional and facilities staff. The additional guidance 

may include correlating all landscape features with 

existing or potential Location and Asset records, 

providing guidance on condition assessments, and 

translating treatment guidelines and tasks into 

actual work orders. Advanced guidance may also 

include helping parks determine particular cost 

driving aspects for preservation that could be used 

for adjusting the CRV.

The following recommendations represent 

advanced FMSS guidance in a CLR, but may 

be selectively applied to provide baseline 

recommendations. These are presented for 

combined CLR Parts 1 and 2 (Site History 

through Treatment). If a CLR is a stand-alone Part 

2 (Treatment), then it should also address the 

recommendations for Part 1. There is typically 

little need for FMSS data in a Site History, although 

including documentation on historic maintenance 

practices can inform contemporary facilities work. 

FMSS in CLR Existing Conditions

Existing Conditions provides an opportunity to 

document a park’s existing FMSS data that is 

relevant to management of the cultural landscape. 

Existing Park FMSS Overview

The following information may be captured in a 

section devoted to FMSS within a larger discussion 

of current landscape management: 

• Explain how the park uses FMSS to manage 

the cultural landscape.

• Summarize the park’s existing FMSS Asset 

inventory relevant to the cultural landscape: 

identify Asset Types that characterize the 

cultural landscape and existing Location records 

in the park FMSS data to determine gaps in 

the Asset list. 

• Identify the Landscape Type, complexity, and 

acreage for existing and proposed 3100 

Location records and other Asset Types for 

use in the Current Replacement Value (CRV) 

calculator. The CRV is part of the equation 

that determines the Facility Condition Index 

(FCI) which assists with work planning in FMSS.

In addition, indicate the boundaries of existing 

Location records that correlate to the cultural 

landscape on the CLR existing conditions graphic 

plan. Verify and revise GIS-compliant spatial data for 

the Location record boundaries based on mapping 

of existing features. The plan should be annotated 

to describe location boundaries where they are not 

clearly defined or where they correlate to visible 

delineations (walls, fences, curbing, forest edge, etc.). 

These boundaries should not graphically obscure 

the primary purpose of the plan to document the 

physical character of the landscape. 

FMSS in CLR Analysis and Evaluation

A CLR Analysis and Evaluation can provide parks 

with information on condition of Locations and 

Assets, including physical condition and deficiencies 

in historic character, and how cultural landscape 

characteristics and features inform an FMSS Asset 

inventory. Because parks must consider multiple 

factors in developing an Asset inventory (such as 

classification, age, and construction), a CLR should 

only make recommendations on how cultural 

landscape values should be considered in defining 

Location and Asset records.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 25

Analysis and Evaluation data may be summarized in 

a cultural landscape evaluation table that correlates 

landscape features to FMSS data, and includes a 

summary of historic character and identification 

of condition deficiencies for use in condition 

assessments and record Long Descriptions (Sidebar 

10: sample crosswalk table). 

Landscape Condition Assessment

The following information may be captured in a 

section of the Analysis and Evaluation that provides 

an assessment of the physical condition (not historic 

integrity) of the cultural landscape: 

• Organize documentation on the existing 

physical condition of the cultural landscape 

according to existing or potential Location 

records. For example, make separate condition 

assessments for a 3100 Maintained Landscapes 

and a 1100 Roads Location record. Locations 

that only partially comprise the cultural 

landscape, such as historic light standards (5100 

Electrical Systems), should still be documented 

in the CLR.

• For each Location record, correlate the 

condition standards in the NPS Cultural 

Resource Management Guideline (Good-FairPoor-Unknown) to deficiencies and identify 

the FMSS work types (Deferred Maintenance, 

Recurring Maintenance, etc.) that would be 

needed to bring the landscape up to good 

condition.

• Provide direction to Facility Management staff 

or contractors on taking historic character into 

account when making condition assessments. 

This should include a synopsis of the landscape’s 

historic character by Location and Asset records, 

and identification of any particular conditions 

that may not meet contemporary facilities 

industry standards, but which contribute to the 

historic character of the landscape, such as vines 

on a building. Explain that a full evaluation of 

the landscape’s historic character is found in the 

evaluation of cultural landscape characteristics 

and features.

Cultural Landscape Inventory and Evaluation

The following information may be provided as part 

of the evaluated inventory of cultural landscape 

characteristics and features, or in a subsection 

that follows. 

• Correlate cultural landscape characteristics and 

features to Asset Types and existing Location 

records (such as Spatial Organization to 3100 

Maintained Landscapes), and Asset records 

(such as Circulation features to 1100 Roads). 

If identified in the CLR project scope, make 

recommendations for missing Location and 

Asset records. 

• Where possible, document existing and/or 

historic details for each landscape feature, such 

as dimensions, materials, color, species, etc., that 

can be used to inform specification templates 

and work orders. 

• Recommend an API Cultural Resource 

Preservation value for existing or proposed 

Location records that characterize the 

cultural landscape, such as 1100 Roads, 3100 

Maintained Landscapes, and 7100 Monuments. 

The reasons for the recommended value 

should be explained based on the definitions 

in the “API Definitions and Examples” available 

through the NPS Park Facilities Management 

Division. 

• Provide recommendations for assessing the 

Current Replacement Value for cultural landscape 

Location records. The recommendations may 

not include an actual value, but should identify 

possible additional costs for preservation work, 

such as in-kind replacement of unique building 

mafeeterials or heritage plants, as well as the 

complexity of the landscape. 
CLR

Feature

Name

FMSS 

Asset Type

FMSS 

Location

Record

FMSS 

Asset

Record

CLI

No.

LCS 

No.

ASMIS 

No.

Cultural

Landscape

Evaluation

Historic Character Deficiency (Historic) Additional Guidance

Spatial OrganizationFormal Garden Space

Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 124761 n/a n/a Contributing Square open space enclosed by 8 foot high sheared hedge Yes

Not a maintained asset; address in Formal Garden Location record Long Description

CirculationMain Entrance Drive

Roads (1100) Estate Roads (13450) Main Entrance Road surface (28456) 124561 601120 n/a Contributing Well-groomed, weed-free gravel drive edged by stone gutters Yes Includes loop through porte-cochere

Formal Garden Walks

Maintained Landscapes (3100)

Formal Garden (13456)

Asset record needed 124567 601122 n/a Contributing

Well-groomed pea-gravel walks with crisp border along lawn and bed edging

No

Facilities staff recommends grouping with C-3, access walk from main house

VegetationSpecimen Trees

Maintained Landscapes (3100)

House Grounds(13452)

Asset record needed 124789 n/a n/a Contributing

10 deciduous trees (oak, maple), high canopy, and two conifers (Norway spruce) with canopy to ground

Yes

Facilities staff recommends splitting into deciduous and conifer assets

Formal Garden perimeter hedges

Maintained Landscapes (3100)

Formal Garden (13453)

Formal Garden Plantings (28345)

124787 n/a n/a Contributing

8 foot high hemlock hedge, canopy to ground, sheared with straight sides, beveled top

Yes Hedge defines Formal Garden Space

Buildings and StructuresMain House Buildings (4100) Main House (13478) Outside scope of CLR n/a 601130 n/a Contributing Federal-period house with Colonial Revival modifications Undet.Kitchen Garden Shed

Buildings (4100)

Kitchen Garden (13457)

Potential future asset n/a n/a n/a n/a Board and batten shed built in ca.1900, removed in 1972 Yes CLR Treatment: Reconstruction

Views and VistasRiver View Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable 124389 n/a n/a Contributing

South view of river from formal garden 25’ opening framed by specimen trees on east and west sides

Yes

Not a maintained asset; address in formal garden Location record Long Description

Small-Scale FeaturesFormal Garden light standards

Electrical Systems (5400)

Location record needed

Asset record needed 124391 n/a n/a Non- contributing Modern park light standards; detract from historic character of the landscape Yes

Archeological SitesA-1. Historic Dump

Maintained Archeological Sites (7200)

Location record needed

Asset record needed n/a n/a 23445 Unevaluated Mostly subsurface remains of domestic refuse area Undet.

Note: Data is fictional

26 LANDSCAPE LINES Sidebar 10: Sample CLR-FMSS Crosswalk Table for CLR Analysis and Evaluation
Sidebar 11: 

Sample Landscape Treatment Task with

FMSS Work Order Information

Treatment Task (FMSS Parent Work Order): Rehabilitate 

Views to and from East Black Point

Historic Background: East Black Point historically 

featured screened views through gardens and trees 

planted in the 1920s on the terreplein and escarpment 

of the fortifications. Filtered, tree-framed vistas remained 

through the end of World War II, but abandonment of 

the gardens and growth of volunteer trees obscured the 

views in subsequent decades as maintenance of the slope 

was curtailed. 

Facility Work Type/Subtype: Facility Maintenance/

Deferred Maintenance

CLR Treatment Priority: 3 (out of 25 tasks)

FMSS Location: Black Point Slope Landscaped Area 

(85972).

FMSS Assets: No Asset records have been 

established for this area.

This treatment task is composed of the following 

components (FMSS Child Work Orders): 

1. Remove invasive trees, including blackwood 

acacia and rock elm. This will require removing 

approximately 24 trees and 5,000 SF of saplings, 

including root grinding of mature trees.

2. Remove invasive shrubs and groundcover, 

including poison hemlock, cotoneaster, English ivy, 

blackberry, and poison oak. This will require removing 

approximately 52,000 square feet of shrubs and 

groundcover.

3. Undertake slope stabilization planting. This will 

require approximately 52,000 square feet of shrubs, 

groundcover, and mulch. Species to be determined. 

Use a dark natural mulch. Ensure light watering daily 

until plantings are established.

Recurring Maintenance Needed: Yes. Reapply mulch 

every 2 to 3 years to suppress weeds. Volunteer woody 

vegetation should be removed from the slope stabilization 

plantings on a biannual basis to maintain the views. 

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 27

FMSS in CLR Treatment

CLR Treatment serves as an important source 

of information for FMSS work planning related 

to the cultural landscape. Treatment guidelines 

and tasks can define work orders for Deferred 

Maintenance (DM) to enhance historic character, 

as well as Preventative Maintenance (PM) and 

Recurring Maintenance (RM) to preserve the 

cultural landscape. While CLR Treatment is often 

developed at the conceptual level, with some 

additional information it can help parks further 

detail FMSS work planning. 

The following recommendations are for Treatment 

that follows CLR Part 1. If Treatment is a standalone Part 2, it should include the existing FMSS 

summary and conditions assessment recommended 

for CLR Part 1. An alternative organization of the 

information as listed below is to combine all FMSS 

guidance in its own section or as an appendix to 

the report. 

Treatment Guidelines and Tasks

The following information should be incorporated 

into landscape treatment guidelines and tasks 

narrative (Sidebar 11: example of a landscape 

treatment task narrative with FMSS Work Order 

information).

• Develop treatment guidelines that identify 

routine maintenance to sustain historic 

dimensions, form, character, size, color, etc., 

such as through hedge clipping, mulching, 

road grading, etc., to inform creation of Facility 

Operations (FO), Preventative Maintenance 

(PM) and Recurring Maintenance (RM) work 

orders in FMSS.

• Consider grouping treatment tasks into 

project components that correlate to FMSS 

Parent Work Orders and FMSS Child Work 

Orders. For example, a treatment project 

“Restore Formal Garden” would be an FMSS 
28 LANDSCAPE LINES

• Describe implementation priorities to assist 

parks in FMSS work planning. This should 

summarize the priorities identified under 

individual treatment tasks based on the goal of 

retaining contributing features and enhancing 

historic character, based on consultation with 

park staff. 

• Identify additional information needed to 

complete FMSS work orders related to cultural 

landscape preservation.

• Identify potential NPS funding sources for 

treatment tasks (work orders), such as Cyclic 

Maintenance, Rec Fee, and Repair/Rehab.

• Identify possible PMIS statements based on 

treatment tasks/work orders.

FMSS in CLR Record of Treatment

The Record of Treatment (CLR Part 3) provides an 

accurate account of the implemented treatment for 

the historical record. The intent is to document 

treatment actions, not preservation maintenance. 

In the past, parks have seldom undertaken formal 

CLR Records of Treatment, although Facility 

Management records usually contain the necessary 

documentation. 

FMSS has the potential, with future updates, to 

allow images, such as site plans or photographs 

of assets, to be incorporated into a Record of 

Treatment. These could also include files exported 

from FMSS to document condition assessments, 

work orders, construction drawings, contracts, 

completion reports, and actual costs. The files 

should be organized according to the CLR 

treatment tasks, and be maintained as an appendix 

to CLR Treatment (Part 2). Recommendations 

for completing a Record of Treatment should be 

addressed in a CLR project scope. 

Parent Work Order, and individual treatment 

tasks such as replacing the perimeter hedge 

and replanting the herbaceous borders may 

comprise constituent FMSS Child Work 

Orders. 

• Prioritize treatment tasks based on physical 

condition and historic character.

• Identify Location and Asset records involved 

with each treatment task/work order. 

• Identify the type of work associated with 

the treatment task. Describe treatment tasks 

that reestablish historic character and missing 

historic features as Deferred Maintenance 

(DM). See Appendix 7 for other work types. 

• Identify the Recurring Maintenance (RM) and 

Preventative Maintenance (PM) that will be 

required upon completion of the work order. 

This will assure that the asset will be maintained 

in the future.

• Provide information on materials/units and 

units of measure to assist with cost estimating. 

Also consider other FMSS work order data 

fields, such as Labor (expertise) and Tools, in 

consultation with facilities staff.

• Indicate the boundaries of existing FMSS 

Location records in the cultural landscape on 

the CLR treatment plan.

• Provide a treatment task summary table 

that correlates treatment tasks with FMSS 

work order information (Sidebar 12: sample 

treatment task summary table). 

Treatment Implementation

Include a section in the CLR that provides guidance 

to parks on implementing treatment through FMSS 

work planning.
CL

R

Treatment

Task / 

FMSS Parent

Work

Order

priority

CL

R

Treatment

Task

Component / 

FMSS Child

work order

FMSS 

Asset

Type

FMSS 

Location

Record

FMSS 

Asset

Record

FMSS Work

Type / 

Sub-type

Maintenance

Needed

(PM or

RM)

Units Unit of

Measure

Task 1. Replace Formal Garden Hedges and Install Deer Fence

2/6

1. Remove hedge

Maintained Landscapes (3100)

Formal Garden (13456)

Formal Garden Plantings (28345)

Facility Maintenance / Deferred Maintenance,Preventative Maintenance

Yes (twice-yearly hedge shearing)

120 hemlock, b&b, 6’ stock EA

2. Plant new hedge 300 (8’ high 

deer fence) LF 3. Install deer fence

Task 2. Replant Missing Specimen Trees on House Grounds

1/6

1. Plant white oak SE of house

Maintained Landscapes (3100)

House Grounds (13452)

House Grounds Specimen TreesAsset record needed

Facility Maintenance / Deferred Maintenance

Not determined 2 (4” caliper trees) EA 2. Plant sugar maple N of house

Task 3. Rehabilitate Main Entrance Drive 4/6

1. Remove weeds and top 4” of road material.

Roads (1100)

Estate Roads(13450)

Main Entrance Road pavement (28456)Main Entrance Road stone gutters (28457)

Facility Maintenance / Deferred Maintenance

Yes (annual grading to maintain even weed-free surface)

1500 (fabric) SF

2. Install geotextile fabric and 4” gravel top, grade to even surface 500 (gravel) CY3. Repoint stone gutters

Task 4. Reestablish River View 3/6

Remove obstructing limbs from adjoining House Grounds grove Maintained 

Landscapes (3100)

House Grounds(13452)

House Grounds groveAsset record needed

Facility Maintenance / Deferred Maintenance

Yes (prune trees biannually to maintain view)

2 (trees) EA

Task 5. Reconstruct Kitchen Garden Shed 

5/6

1. Reconstruct building

Buildings (4100)

Location record needed (future)

Asset record needed (future)

Capital Improvement / New Construction

Not determined

60 (building) SF

2. Grade and install site drainage

Facility Maintenance / Preventative Maintenance

80 (French drain) LF

Task 6. Install interpretive signage at Historic Dump 

6/6

1. Improve trail to dump 

Maintained Landscapes (3100)

Kitchen Garden(12357)

Trail to Dump (C-15) Asset record needed

Facility Maintenance / Deferred Maintenance

Not determined 125 (trail) LF

2. Install wayside at dump

Maintained Archeological Sites (7200)

Location record needed

Historic Dump (A-1)Asset record needed

Not determined Not determined 1 (sign) EA

Note: Data is fictional

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 29

Sidebar 12: S

ample CLR-FMSS 

Crosswalk

Table for CLR

Treat

ment
30 LANDSCAPE LINES

4. Addressing FMSS in Cultural Landscape

Inventories

Since the Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) is 

a set database, authors and parks have limited 

flexibility on adapting the data to FMSS. 

FMSS can be addressed in a CLI in the following 

manner: 

• By ensuring contributing and non-contributing 

features of landscape characteristics are clearly 

identified and described in the Analysis and 

Evaluation; 

• By providing sufficient information in stabilization 

measures to allow for their translation into 

work orders by Facilities Management staff; 

• By completing the FMSS table in the CLI 

database with Location and Asset record 

numbers for the cultural landscape; and

• By adding Location and Asset record numbers 

to GIS-compliant spatial data.

More specific information can be found in the CLI 

Professional Procedures Guide.

5. Addressing FMSS In Preservation

Maintenance Plans

Preservation Maintenance Plans provide the 

greatest opportunity for aligning content and 

format with FMSS. The reports could be structured 

to follow the FMSS Location/Asset hierarchy, 

and the work needed can be aligned with FMSS 

categories of Deferred Maintenance, Preventative 

Maintenance, and Recurring Maintenance. Work 

planning could be presented to align with data fields 

in FMSS work orders. Such changes to Preservation 

Maintenance Plans will be addressed in future 

revisions to the Guide to Preparing a Preservation 

Maintenance Plan for a Historic Landscape (1998).

Conclusion

FMSS can be a powerful tool for enhancing 

stewardship of cultural landscapes and advancing 

the NPS Call to Action to preserve America’s 

special places. Because FMSS has the ability to 

integrate cultural landscape data into facilities work 

planning, it provides an important opportunity to 

facilitate communication between the Park Cultural 

Landscapes Program and Facilities Management, and 

thereby achieve seamless landscape stewardship 

from planning through implementation. 

Cultural landscape data can help parks develop 

FMSS in a way that advances their cultural resource 

preservation mission. Without good cultural 

landscape data, FMSS may not capture all assets, 

may not assign the correct Cultural Resource 

Preservation value to the Asset Priority Index (API), 

or may assign an inaccurate Current Replacement 

Value (CRV) due to higher preservation costs. 

These situations could lead to absence of needed 

work orders, or creation of work orders that do 

not adequately preserve and enhance historic 

assets, or that compete poorly for funding.

Park Cultural Landscapes Program staff can use 

the information in this technical brief to gain 

an overview of the concepts behind Facilities 

Management and FMSS, and to adapt CLRs to 

facilitate integration of data into FMSS. Detailed 

information on evolving FMSS business practices, 

best management practices, inspection guidance, 

and other technical facilities information is available 

through the NPS Park Facility Management Division.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 31

For Additional Guidance

The Park Facility Management Division of the 

National Park Service is responsible for developing 

Asset Tools for each Asset Type in FMSS, available 

through the Asset Management Toolbox, http://

inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=190&lv=4. 

These tools contain detailed guidance on entering 

data in FMSS, making condition assessments, and 

other technical information formerly in “Business 

Practices and Inspection Guidance” documents. 

Park Facility Management Program Help Desk, 

fmp_help_desk@nps.gov or (303) 969-2609

Operations and Maintenance: Facility Management 

Software System (FMSS) Student Manual (2011). 

http://eppley.org/resources

Endnotes

1. National Park Service, A Call to Action (2012).

2. International Facility Management Association, 

“FM Knowledge Base,” http://www.ifma.org/knowbase/fm-knowledge-base (accessed February 19, 

2014); NPS Director’s Order #80 (2006); NPS 28, 

Cultural Resource Management Guideline (1998).

3. NPS Director’s Order #80 (2006).

4. The FMSS hierarchy is defined by geography and 

not asset type groupings, such as “Roads.”

5. Cultural landscape treatment and maintenance 

may also address another work type, Facilities 

Operations-Grounds Care. This involves activities 

that occur on a more frequent basis, such as weekly 

or monthly, and may include lawn mowing, litter 

pick-up, and weeding. 

6. Refer to 3100 Best Management Practices 

(Park Facility Management Division) for additional 

guidance on determining 3100 Maintained 

Landscapes boundaries and interface with other 

Asset Types.
32 LANDSCAPE LINES

References

Coffin, Margaret and Regina M. Bellavia. Guide 

to Developing a Preservation Maintenance Plan 

for a Historic Landscape, revised edition. Boston, 

MA: National Park Service Olmsted Center for 

Landscape Preservation,1998.

Federal Real Property Council. 2012 Guidance for 

Real Property Inventory Reporting, Version 2. GSA 

Office of Government-Wide Policy, August 16, 2012. 

Harvey, Timothy and Elizabeth Dodson. Operations 

and Maintenance: Facility Management Software 

System (FMSS) Student Manual. Bloomington, IN: 

Eppley Institute for Parks & Public Lands, March 2011.

International Facility Management Association 

website, http://www.ifma.org/.

National Park Service. A Call to Action: Preparing for 

a Second Century of Stewardship and Engagement. 

National Park Service, August 25, 2012 update.

National Park Service. “Asset Priority Index Criteria.” 

2012. 

National Park Service. “Director’s Order #80: Real 

Property Asset Management.” November 20, 2006. 

National Park Service. “Maintained Archeological 

Sites Business Practices.” Unpublished National Park 

Service report, February 11, 2010.

National Park Service. “NPS Maintained Landscapes 

Business Practices & Inspection Guidance.” Draft 

National Park Service report, December 2009.

National Park Service and Eppley Institute for Parks 

and Public Lands. “Operations and Maintenance: 

Facility Management Software System (FMSS) 

Classroom Training Student Manual, September 

2013.” Electronic version, NPS_FMSS Training_

Student Manual_2013_130903v2.pdf.

National Park Service and Eppley Institute for Parks 

and Public Lands. “Operations and Maintenance: 

Facility Management Software System (FMSS): Desk 

Reference, September 2013.” Electronic version, 

NPS_FMSS_Training_DeskReference_130910_

FINAL.pdf.

National Park Service, Park Facility Maintenance 

Division. “Asset Priority Index Criteria.” 

2014. Electronic version, NPS_API_Ecourse_

APIcriteria_121114_FINAL (1).pdf.

National Park Service. PFMD Update: The Official 

Newsletter of the Park Facility Management Division, 

vol 2, issue 1, September/October 2010; volume 

2, issue 6, July /August 2011.

Page, Robert R., Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan A. Dolan. 

A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, 

Process, and Techniques. Washington, DC: National 

Park Service, 1998.

Page, Robert R., revised by Jeffrey Killion and 

Gretchen Hilyard. National Park Service Cultural 

Landscapes Inventory Professional Procedures Guide. 

National Park Service report, January 2009.
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 33

Appendix 1. Common Facilities Management Terms Related to Cultural Landscapes

Source: Operations and Maintenance: FMSS Student Manual (Eppley, 2011) and Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Term Acronym Definition

Asset n/a A distinct element or separately identifiable part of a Location on which work is performed. 

Example: A hedge around a formal garden 3100 Maintained Landscapes Location. 

Asset Type 

n/a A category used to group like Assets that define a Location; currently 32 Asset Types organized 

into 8 groups; each defined by a four-digit code. Example: 3100 Maintained Landscapes.

Asset Priority Index API An evaluation process that quantifies the value of an Asset in relation to the mission of the park. 

Performed at the Location level only.

Condition Assessment, Annual CAA

Inspection of an Asset identifying apparent deficiencies and documenting the condition as 

measured against the applicable maintenance or condition standards. Basis for annual work plans 

and budgets.

Condition Assessment, 

Comprehensive CAC

Review and validation of the inventory; inspection of an Asset identifying in-depth deficiencies, 

and documenting the condition as measured against the applicable maintenance or condition 

standards. Determines DM and FCI. Performed on an Asset every 5 years.

Capital Improvement CI Construction that adds to the existing footprint of an Asset, or creates a new asset; or 

alterations. Example: expansion of a parking lot.

Corrective Maintenance CM Unscheduled reactive repairs that are not estimated or planned. Example: replacement of a 

fence damaged by a falling tree.

Component Classification 

System CompClass An NPS system for classifying Assets according to set types. 

Current Replacement Value CRV

Standard industry costs and engineering estimates of materials, supplies, and labor required to 

replace a facility at existing size and functional capability. Can be adjusted to address known local 

costs or historic preservation costs if needed.

Deferred Maintenance DM Maintenance that was not performed as it should have been. Example: in-kind replanting of a 

historic tree that was removed 10 years ago. 

Facility n/a A term used to encompass land, buildings, other structures, and other real property

improvements, including utilities; another term for Location. 

Facility Type n/a A category used to delineate the class of a facility. Example: Agricultural Field under 3100 

Maintained Landscapes. 

Facility Condition Index FCI

A measure of a facility’s relative condition at a particular point in time to other similar facilities. 

FCI is a ratio of the cost of repair of asset deficiencies divided by the current replacement value 

(CRV). Performed at the Location level only.

Facility Management FM The planning, prioritizing, organizing, controlling, reporting, evaluation, and adjusting of facility use 

to support NPS activities based upon facility needs and NPS mission requirements.

Facility Management Software 

System FMSS An asset-based work identification, management, and analysis program, based on IBM Maximo®platform. 

Facility Operations FO Work activities performed on a recurring basis throughout the year which intend to meet 

routine, daily park operational needs. 

Location n/a

Property that the NPS desires to track and manage as a distinct identifiable entity, based on set 

Asset Types, that require recurring maintenance and/or corrective actions to sustain or return 

it to an ‘industry standard’ level of acceptable condition; another term for “facility.” Example: A 

hedge-enclosed flower garden within a residential landscape. 

Maintained Landscapes ML The Asset Type (3100) comprised of exterior park areas exclusive of other Asset Types. Asset 

Type most closely aligned with cultural landscapes. 

Preventative Maintenance PM Regularly scheduled periodic maintenance activities (within a year) on select Assets. Example: 

annual grading of a gravel road. 

Routine Assessment RA Identification of minor deficiencies to support recurring maintenance and set short-term work 

plans.

Recurring Maintenance RM Work activities that recur based on normal wear patterns on a periodic cycle of greater than 1 

year and less than 10 years. Example: resetting of a bluestone walk. 

Work Order n/a Process for documenting work needs and collecting information to aid the work scheduling and 

assignment process. 
 SAMPLE LOCATION RECORD SCREEN

34 LANDSCAPE LINES Appendix 2A. FMSS Sample Screen (FMSS version 6.2)
 SAMPLE ASSET RECORD SCREEN

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 35 Appendix 2B. FMSS Sample Screen (FMSS version 6.2)
 SAMPLE WORK RECORD SCREEN

36 LANDSCAPE LINES Appendix 2C. FMSS Sample Screen (FMSS version 6.2)
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 37

Appendix 3. Asset Codes and Categories for FMSS Location Records

Select List of Codes Common to Cultural Landscapes

Source: FMSS Desk Reference (2013)

SITE/AREA UTILITY, continued

 0000 – Site/Area 5500 – Communication Systems

ROAD 5700 – Fuel Systems

1100 – Roads 5800 – Solid Waste/Recycling Systems

1300 – Parking Areas MARINE/WATERWAY/WATERFRONT

1700 – Road Bridges 6100 – Dams/Levees/Dikes

1800 – Road Tunnels 6200 – Constructed Waterways

TRAIL 6300 – Marina/Waterfront Systems

2100 – Trails AVIATION/RAILROAD

2200 – Trail Bridges 6400 – Aviation Systems

2300 – Trail Tunnels 6500 – Railroad Systems

GROUNDS 6600 – Ship

3100 – Maintained Landscapes UNIQUE ASSET

3800 – Boundaries 7100 – Outdoor Sculptures/Monuments

BUILDING 7200 – Maintained Archeological Sites

4100 – Buildings 7300 – Fortifications

UTILITY 7400 – Towers/Missile Silos

5100 – Water Systems 7500 – Interpretive Media

5200 – Waste Water Systems 7900 – Amphitheaters

5300 – Heating & Cooling Plants

5400 – Electrical Systems
38 LANDSCAPE LINES

Appendix 4. NPS Component Classification Hierarchy (for all Asset Types)

Select List of Components Common to Cultural Landscapes

Source: FMSS Desk Reference (2013)

Parent

Classification

Classification

Description

Full Classification (Including Sub-Parent Class)

Archeological

 ARCHLOGY Archeology ARCHLGCL/ARCHLOGY

Barrier & Fencing

 BARRIER Fence/Gate BARRIER/FENCGATE

 BARRIER Railing BARRIER/RAILING

Communication

 COMMNCTN Antenna/Trans Tower COMMNCTN/ANTENNA

Electrical

 ELECTRCL Lighting ELECTRCL/LILGHT

 ELECTRCL Substation ELECTRCL/SUBSTATS

Exhibit

 EXHIBIT Interpretive Exhibit: Fixed 

Artillery EXHIBIT/INTRPRTV/ARTILERY

 EXHIBIT Sculpture: Fountain/Pool EXHIBIT/SCLPTURE/FNTNPOOL

Furnishing

 FURNISH Exterior Furnishing FURNISH/EXTFURN

HVAC

 HVAC Cooling Tower HVAC/COOLTOWR

Life Safety & Facility Protection

 SAFETY Suppression: Fire Hydrant SAFETY/SUPPRSSN/HYDRANT

Liquid & Gas

 LIQDNGAS Plumbing: Irrigation Sys LIQDNGAS/PLUMBING/IRRIGTN

 LIQDNGAS Plumbing: Valve LIQDNGAS/PLUMBING/VALVE

Signage & Marking

 MARKING Sign MARKING/SIGN

 MARKING Traffic Light MARKING/TRAFLGHT

Structure

 STRCTURE Abutment STRCTURE/ABUTMENT

 STRCTURE Wall STRCTURE/WALL

 STRCTURE Access: Stairs STRCTURE/ACCESS/STAIRS

Surface

 SURFACE Land Surface SURFACE/LANDSURF

 SURFACE Plant or Vegetation SURFACE/PLANT

 SURFACE Trailer Pad SURFACE/TRALRPAD

 SURFACE Turfgrass/Pasture Crop SURFACE/TURFCROP

Water Control

 WTRCNTRL Constructed Channel WTRCNTRL/CONSCHAN

 WTRCNTRL Culvert WTRCNTRL/CULVERT

 WTRCNTRL Drain WTRCNTRL/DRAIN

 WTRCNTRL Outlet Work WTRCNTRL/OUTLETWK
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 39

Appendix 5. Asset Priority Index (API) Values for Cultural Resource Preservation

Source: NPS Asset Priority Index Criteria (2012)

Value Definition

High The asset meets at least one of the following criteria:

•	 The asset’s preservation is specifically legislated

•	 The asset is key to the park’s legislated cultural significance

•	 The asset meets the National Register criteria at the national level of significance

•	 The asset is a National Historic Landmark

•	 The asset is a contributing resource to a National Historic Landmark district or a nationally significant National 

Register property

•	 The asset is a fundamental resource specified in the park’s foundation document or park plans

•	 The asset is a prehistoric asset

•	 The asset directly protects a cultural resource

•	 The asset meets FRP Historic Factor 1

Medium The asset meets all of the following criteria:

•	 The asset is of state or local significance and meets the National Register criteria individually or as a 

contributing resource of a property or district

•	 The asset is compatible with the park’s legislated significance, and

•	 The asset has a continuing or potential use based on its design and location

OR

The asset meets at least one of the following criteria:

•	 The asset limits the impacts of visitor use on a cultural resource, where impacts could cause major degradation

•	 FRP Historic Factor 2 or 3

Low The asset meets at least one of the following criteria:

•	 The asset does not meet the National Register criteria, but a decision has been reached through a park planning 

process to manage the asset as a cultural resource

•	 The asset meets the National Register criteria at the state or local level of significance, but is incompatible with 

the park’s legislated significance or with the park’s management objectives for fundamental resources

•	 The asset meets the National Register criteria at the state or local level of significance, but has no continuing 

use or potential use, based on its design or location

•	 The asset limits the impacts of visitor use on a cultural resource where impacts could cause limited degradation

•	 FRP Historic Factor 4 or 5

None Asset has no relationship to cultural resource preservation and meets FRP Historic Factor 6.

Federal Real Property (FRP) Historic Factors:

1. National Historic Landmark

2. National Register Listed

3. National Register Eligible

4. Non-contributing resource of National Historic Landmark or National Register district

5. Not evaluated

6. Evaluated, not historic
 SAMPLE CRV CALCULATOR FOR A 3100 MAINTAINED LANDSCAPES LOCATION

40 LANDSCAPE LINES

 Appendix 6A. Sample CRV Calculator Screen (FMSS version 6.2) 
 SAMPLE CRV CALCULATOR FOR A 3100 MAINTAINED LANDSCAPES LOCATION

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 41

 Appendix 6B. Sample CRV Calculator Screen (FMSS version 6.2)
42 LANDSCAPE LINES

 Appendix 6C. Sample CRV Calculator Screen (FMSS version 6.2)

 SAMPLE CRV CALCULATOR FOR A 3100 MAINTAINED LANDSCAPES LOCATION
 SAMPLE CRV CALCULATOR FOR A 3100 MAINTAINED LANDSCAPES LOCATION

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 43

 Appendix 6D. Sample CRV Calculator Screen (FMSS version 6.2) 
44 LANDSCAPE LINES

Appendix 7. FMSS Work Types and Sub-types Related to Cultural Landscapes

Sources: FMSS Desk Reference (2013); FMSS Student Manual (2013)

Work Type / Sub-Type Definition

FM Facility Maintenance

The day-to-day activities as well as the planned work required to preserve facilities (buildings, 

structures, grounds, and utility systems) in such a condition that they may be used for their 

designated purpose over an intended service life. Facility maintenance includes all activities not 

included in Facility Operations and Capital Improvements.

CR

Component Renewal

(Recapitalization)

The planned replacement of a component or system that will reach the end of its useful life based 

on condition and life cycle analysis within the facility’s lifetime. Examples include roof replacement, 

utility upgrades, and repaving.

CM Corrective Maintenance 

Unscheduled reactive repairs that would not be estimated and planned, but are accomplished by 

local staff or existing service contractors, such as fixing a light standard damaged in an automobile 

accident. 

DM Deferred Maintenance 

Maintenance that was not performed when it should have been, or was scheduled and was put off or 

delayed. Continued deferment of maintenance will result in deficiencies. Examples include repair of a 

stone wall that collapsed due to lack of maintenance to the associated drainage system.

DEM Demolition Removal of an asset that has been determined to be unsafe or no longer meets mission goals. 

Removal of an asset is determined by management in conjunction with NPS planning procedures.

EM Emergency Maintenance A maintenance task carried out to avert an immediate hazard, or to correct an unexpected failure, 

such as responding to a rockslide.

LMAC Legis. Mandate Accessibility

Accessibility, EPA, lead-based paint, etc., deficiencies that must be corrected in response to 

regulatory requirements. These activities include retrofitting for code compliance and accessibility 

and removing hazardous materials.

PM Preventative Maintenance Regularly scheduled periodic maintenance activities (within 1 year) on selected assets. Examples 

include lubrication, minor adjustments, and seasonal pruning. 

RM Recurring Maintenance

Work activities that recur based on normal wear patterns on a periodic cycle of greater than 1 year 

and less than 10 years. Examples include painting, caulking, and replacement of a gravel surface on a 

walk. 

FO Facility Operations Work activities performed on a recurring basis throughout the year that are intended to meet 

routine, daily park operational needs.

GC Grounds Care

The methods, materials, equipment, and techniques used on a regular basis to sustain an improved 

landscape and associated features. Lawn mowing and trimming, weed control, pruning trees and shrubs, 

fertilizing plants, minor grading and mulching, raking leaves or sand, litter and debris pickup, adjusting 

irrigation systems, etc.

PC Pest Control

Periodic actions that eliminate or protect facilities from pests which encompasses insects, rodents, 

nematodes, fungi, weeds, and other forms of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or virus, 

bacteria, or other form of micro-organism.

SN Snow/Sand/Debris Activities performed to ensure safety from unanticipated hazards or obstructions; removal or 

precautions applied to roads, parking, trails, benches, waterways, and sidewalks.

CI Capital Improvements

Changes to the interior arrangements or other physical characteristics of an existing facility or 

installed equipment so that it can be used more effectively for its currently designated purpose 

or adapted to a new use. Alterations may include work referred to as improvement, conversion, 

remodeling, and modernization. Such alterations are not maintenance. 

LMAC Legis. Mandate Accessibility

Accessibility, EPA, lead-based paint, etc., deficiencies that must be corrected in response to 

regulatory requirements. These activities include retrofitting for code compliance and accessibility 

and removing hazardous materials.

NC New Construction

Construction that adds to the existing footprint of an asset, or creates a new asset. Examples include 

expanding a parking lot and replacing portable restrooms with a permanent facility in a frequently 

visited area.
Appendix 8. Sample FMSS Summary Data Crosswalk Table 

Representative Entries from Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, FMSS Site: Estate 

FMSS Location

Record

NPS 

Classification FMSS Asset Record CLI # CLI Feature Name CLR # CLR Feature Name LCS # Park Structure Name/Number Evaluation

1100 Roads 88797 Estate Main Entrance Road 

BARRIER/TRAFFBAR

199506 Traffic Barrier, Steel

131438 Main Entrance Drive C-1 C-7 Main Entrance Drive Mansion Parking Area 40510 HR-01 

HistoricWall, Retaining part of BS-9: Perimeter Stone Wall, BS-9 HLF-05, LCS 40517 (Historic)Steel traffic barrier not inventoried in CLR; not historic

SURFACE/TRAFSURF

396786 Traffic Surface, Gravel

STRCTURE/WALL 483552 Wall, Retaining, Masonry/Stone

3100 Maintained Landscapes226032 Hill

LIQDNGAS/WELL 188293 Well, Reservoir 111388 Reservoir BS-25 Reservoir 40529 HS-11 Reservoir HistoricFURNISH/GENFURN 188401 Upper Meadow Corral Horse Trough 131750 Upper Meadow Corral Horse Trough SSF-31 Upper Meadow Corral Horse Trough n/a n/a HistoricSURFACE/TRAFSURF

188298 Traffic Surface (Hill Trails & Paths) 111422

Hill TrailsC-31 C-33

C-30 Upper Hillside Path n/a n/a

Historic

Arboretum Path n/a n/a n/aWoodland Garden Path 

n/a n/a n/a

59141 Mansion Terrace

BARRIER/FENCGATE

188279 Upper Summerhouse iron fence

11646 Upper Summerhouse 

Iron Fence

SSF-2 Upper Summerhouse Iron Fence n/a n/a Historic

SURFACE/PLANT

188615 Plant or Vegetation, 6.5 FT, 619 FT, 8 FT 131302 Perimeter Hemlock Hedge V-24 Perimeter Hemlock Hedge n/a n/a Historic

SURFACE/TRALRPAD

188350 Summerhouses Path 131454 Summerhouses Path C-9 Summerhouses Path n/a n/a Historic

4100 Buildings43137 Lower Summerhouse

SURFACE/FINISH/EXTFNSH

359222, Exterior Finish, No Finish

131552 Lower Summerhouse BS-5 Lower Summerhouse 40526 HS-08 Historic SURFACE/

ROOFSURF

355548 Roof Surface, Copper

87838 Forest Center Multiple Multiple n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Non-historic; not inventoried in CLR5400 Electrical Systems88164 Electrical Distribution System

ELECTRCL/LIGHT 28343 131658 Lampposts (Rockefeller- installed) SSF-6 Lampposts 40516 HLF-04 Asset includes both historic and non-historic components

CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 45
46 LANDSCAPE LINES
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES & NPS FACILITY MANAGEMENT 47
The mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect and provide access to our Nation’s natural and 

cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to tribes.

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Cultural Resources

Park Historic Structures & Cultural Landscapes

F ro as l

I tn er en t: ob 

F

ISBN 978-0-16-092554-2

9 780160 925542

90000

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800

Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001

ISBN 978-0-16-092554-2

Credits: Reviewers and contributors to this document include: John Auwaerter, Robert Page, Randall Biallas, George W. Curry, Charlie Pepper, 

Kathleen Fitzgerald, Stephanie Nelson, Christopher Beagan, Cortney C. Gjesfjeld, Susan Dolan, Elizabeth Dodson, Adrienne Anderson, 

Dan Le May, Jeffrey Morgensen and Julia Yu.